Electrical short in battery

kenewagner

Registered User
I tried to charge the battery in the car yesterday. Had the charger on for 45 minutes. The battery was hot to the touch. I have an expensive battery tester which I used to check it with. The tester kept reading only 15% charged and to recharge the battery. I read a thread in the TBU (yep I do go there from time to time) about low battery charge can cause problems with the car running. If the volts are down on the battery will the ignition system not fire as it was intended? I already bought and installed a new battery and hope that the old battery was the problem. When pressuring up the intake to look for vacuum leaks I only found the bypass shaft leaking. It has been that way for a long time so I dont beleive it was a big problem. I am assuming a new battery might be the cure.

Ken
 
Lets see. A standard lead acid automotive battery will have 6 2volt cells to make up the 12 v. The cells are separated by plates. You could have a couple cells shorted out inside. What is the voltage you see? If it's a factor of 2 from the 12, you have a bad cell. did you make sure the electrolyte level is all the way up? (If the battery has vent caps, regardless of how maintenance free, it has electrolyte in it)

A Lincoln Mark VIII will start acting up with battery voltage around 11.2v.

I had 10.6 v on a battery after I got home when the alternator had gone south. The SC was still running, but it wasn't happy. Misfires and gauges weren't reading properly.

With an electronic ignition system, certain minimum voltages are required for everything to work.

Note your alt should be able to keep voltage up around 13 volts, but it'll overheat trying to do that and fail eventually.
 
Lets see. A standard lead acid automotive battery will have 6 2volt cells to make up the 12 v. The cells are separated by plates. You could have a couple cells shorted out inside. What is the voltage you see? If it's a factor of 2 from the 12, you have a bad cell. did you make sure the electrolyte level is all the way up? (If the battery has vent caps, regardless of how maintenance free, it has electrolyte in it)

A Lincoln Mark VIII will start acting up with battery voltage around 11.2v.

I had 10.6 v on a battery after I got home when the alternator had gone south. The SC was still running, but it wasn't happy. Misfires and gauges weren't reading properly.

With an electronic ignition system, certain minimum voltages are required for everything to work.

Note your alt should be able to keep voltage up around 13 volts, but it'll overheat trying to do that and fail eventually.

Didnt check the voltage. The water level was correct. The battery was one my company sells and I had no faith that it would last:rolleyes: A bad battery causing all kinds of problems, I will remember that. Hope to start the car today or tomorrow. We will see

Ken
 
Just a note, don't let you alternator charge a battery that is bad or extremely low on charge. It overheats the alternator, and casues them to fail. I've had personal experince with this and so have other people. I would check your battery voltage before starting, and check it with the car running just to make sure your alt. is in good working order. A good battery should have about 12.5 volts , and 13.8 to 14.5 with the engine running.
 
Just a note, don't let you alternator charge a battery that is bad or extremely low on charge. It overheats the alternator, and casues them to fail. I've had personal experince with this and so have other people. I would check your battery voltage before starting, and check it with the car running just to make sure your alt. is in good working order. A good battery should have about 12.5 volts , and 13.8 to 14.5 with the engine running.

Agreed....put the battery on a charger for at least a few hours.

David
 
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