Overcharging gremlins

[Glen Cleeton]

Perhaps it's just a bad ground.

I have had a flicker and egg whiff at high rpm for the past few months. Then, yesterday, I was getting the light at about 3500rpm.

Storming onto an expressway today, the light lit up and stayed on. There's the egg smell again.
So anyway, caution to the wind, I drive on down the road. The light went out at the toll booth when idling and later when I stopped for gas.

Once home, I pop the hood to find a madly boiling battery, It even popped a cap. No need to get the voltage meter, I muse, as I head for some water and paper towels. This sucker was blazing after about forty minutes on the highway. I douse it down with another gallon of water to cool it off a bit, shake my head and button up the hood.

I figure I'll check it once more. All systems normal up to the rev limiter at 4000rpm in park.

Sigh, I guess I'll have to take a look at wiring tomorrow _and_ drag out the volt/ohm meter.

Silly me though, I'll probably just go for a drive and maybe stop by the fellows at the Zone. It really could just be a bad ground though, huh?

Whacky, near woosta

Cheers

GC
just venting really, stuff happens


Thoughts? wink

<small>[ June 28, 2003, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: Glen Cleeton ]</small>

 

[SHOZ123]

Sounds like the battery is toast. The GEN 3 has a relay that will kick things out if the voltage is too high or too low.

 

[Glen Cleeton]

I hear you on the relays. Ya, I thought about the battery from the first and may try swapping it out tomorrow. I had a Datsun, years ago, that would do the same thing. I was loathe to put a new battery in and cook it, so I just carried the new one as a jumper. When we parted ways, the battery was replaced and it was fine.

The intermittent variable of this one has me thinking a ground but I'll prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I don't really like the silly looking little NAPA battery anyway and they're cheap enough. I'll probably just swap out the one from another vehicle though to check it out.

It being seemingly fine after the water treatment makes it seem even more like a possible ground issue but I really need to put a meter on things first.

Something to ponder tomorrow after the German Gran Prix Now here's a puzzlement for ya. We go with tall wheels and tires and they're running fat 13"ers shrug

Cheers and thanks for the battery prod, really just venting after a too long week.

GC

 

[Glen Cleeton]

Oh well, no joy. New battery, still over charging and acting up. Off to a shop tomorrow.

Bummer

GC

 

[SHOZ123]

Had an interesting week my self concerning batteries. The '97 left me stranded just off the interstate as I was going to work.

I didn't know if it was the battery or the alternator. First time in months that I did not have a voltmeter in the car.

Had it towed to a garage and they said they would not work on it. I had asked them to change the alternator.

Called the guy across the street and he took one look at it and also refused to work on it. I guess the beast is just too intimidating.

Had it towed to a Fraud dealer and explained I thought the alternator was bad and that it could also be the battery. They refused initially to work on it also saying it was too modded. Now I only asked them to change the alt, stooges.

I then asked if they got it running and they said they jumped it and it ran. I asked if they checked to see if the alternator was working, they said they only could do that off of the vehicle and if I wanted them to change it there would be no gaurantees.....

I told them to push it out side and i would look at it the next day. I went there the next day with a good battery, plugged it in , started the car and checked the voltage. 14.2V. I then told them good day and left. The battery I had was a used gel cell 26Ah battery that weight 20lbs. I bought it off of fleaBay in the spring of 2002 and have been using it since. It was shot but was manufactured in 1995.

Hill Ford Champaign, Illinois was the stealer.

 

[stephen newberg]

What a tale. The variance is service at dealerships is just amazing. Once again, proving to me anyway, that you pick your dealer purely on the basis of service, and do not worry about a couple of hundred dollars here or there on the initial purchase price. To have good service will repay those dollars almost immediately.

pax, smn

 

[Glen Cleeton]

Well, the new 36r battery made it to the local Ford guys but no further. Now it's a constant drain vs overcharging.

This one is AAA approved, so at least there is some hope for QC. Of course, without an appointment, I'm kind of in limbo for the day.

Signed up for a cheapo rental but all they had for me was an F-150 at a similar price. I can hear the snickering at work already (really folks, it's a rental).

GC
there was no joy in Mudville

<small>[ June 30, 2003, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Glen Cleeton ]</small>

 

[mcgilles]

my car left me almost standed at kroger yesterday. I have voltmeter in the pod which read 12v (wired in hot, since it uses less power than an LED) but when I turn the key, nothing happened. it progressed to all electronics, no lights, and the idiot lights didn't come on in the dash when in run with engine off. something sure was wrong. but oddly enough, the voltmeter kept showing 12V the whole time. I thought maybe I had damaged the ignition wiring, but the lights didn't work either. I attached my jump start and it started right up. got home, turned it off and back on, worked just fine. no problems since. must have been corrosion or something. I don't know?!? but the power systems in this car kinda scar me. when I first turn it on I usually don't see more than 14.0V and usually after going around for a while it drops to a steady 13V or maybe 13.5 on a good day. but still, quite a bit below normal. if I didn't have a voltmeter I would never know that it was having trouble. everything works just fine. I suppose it could just be the cheap 15$ advance auto voltmeter not reading correctly? but I checked it one day with a real voltmeter, and sure enough, 13.5V on the battery in run. I sure hope its not a sign of trouble ahead, but it might be...I head replacing teh alternator is a pain

 

[stephen newberg]

For whatever its worth, that sounds to me like you just had a run down battery. The normal output on an unloaded car battery averages about 13.2 volts, IIRC. In the morning at first starting, you should get a 14 volt or so reading, and it should then work its way down to the about 13 volt indication as the charging brings the battery to full. Depending on the condition of the battery, you may see this full sequence again during the day if the car is shut down for long periods, or the weather is cold, etc. There will be lesser ranges of recharge and times between on newer batteries. So the results you are seeing on your voltmeter are, in fact, pretty normal. Your symptom really sounds as if you just had a low battery.

px, smn

 

[SHOZ123]

If the battery is overcharging the voltage will be in the +15V range. A way to tell if the battery is bad is to fully charge it at a low amperage (less than 2A) then monitor the voltage and charge rate in amps. Charge overnight before testing. If the voltage is in the 15s and the amperage is over 500 mA then the battery (or your charger) is bad. A good battery shouldn't take more than 300mA to maintain a 14.5V no load charge.