Battery problem (1 Viewer)

[trw]

Battery seems to have been overcharged or something and boiled over. I've had this happen before on an old plymouth and ford with external voltage regulators that had gone bad. Never had this happen on a newer vehicle. Also, the charge meter in the car doesn't show any abnormal readings. Not sure what is going on here, but battery fluid all over the case and that terrible smell fills the car. Any thoughts of what might be going on? If I take the alt out and have it tested will they be able to tell if the regulator is any good?

On a similar theme, since I need a new battery now, I'm open to any and all suggestions. I use the truck pretty hard so I need a good dependable battery that can take some off road abuse.

thanks
tom

 

[calamaridog]

Odyssey batteries are very nice:

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/index.htm

Find a local dealer... I just refer to this site due to content.

Don't know why your battery "boiled over"? How old is it?

 

[trw]

Not sure how old it is, but its been there the 3 yrs I've had the truck. If the battery gets overcharged it heats up a lot. Had one go bone dry on me once on a trip from GA to MN.

 

[dfmorse]

TRW;

If u had an old (over 4 years) battery, one of the cells could have shorted; meaning u would have around 14 volts charging 5 cells instead of 6 cells. This would over charge and over heat the battery.

Get a good optima, odyssey or some other brand. I'll bet there is nothing wrong with ur alternator, u just experienced a worn out battery problem.

...

 

[Augie]

You could just check the voltage on the battery with engine running. Any volt meter would work. I think the voltage should not be higher than 14.5 Volt.
As for the odyssey battery source try Batteries Are Us

 

[theRash]

Had an 1994 Audi where the battery boiiled out. It smells like rotten eggs/ sulfer right? Happened to me, it overcharged my battery at 17-19 volts. Because of that alternator(internal regulator), it shorted out several other things but mostly just fuses. Mechanics 'should' be able to test it, if you're not too far away from a auto parts store, have them do an in-car alternator test, It may identify an external regulator. I don't know enough about the electrical in newer cars to diagnose beyond that. My thought off the cuff is that it is the regulator. I do know that if I had taken care of it earlier, the repair would have been alot cheaper. (this of course was on an aud. lol)

 

[rule303]

My 99 LC is doing the same thing with a new battery and alternator. My guess is a bad regulator in the new alternator. Just my luck, the company that installed the alternator went out of business a month after they installed it!
I'll let you know what the mechanic says when we take it in. Right now its just been sitting in the garage, as it is a third vehicle for us now.