What might I have fried? (1 Viewer)

[Spook50]

While changing the belts in my 62 the other day, I wasn't looking where I was reaching and accidentally touched my wrench to the battery's positive terminal and the holddown at the same time, making more than a few sparks fly. I checked the fusible link and the charging fuse and everything was okay. Made the 300-mile drive back to Spokane and went back and forth to work this week with no problems, but last night my voltage gauge just slowly crept from 14V down to 12V over the course of a 20-minute drive downtown (this was with only my headlights on. No fan or radio). When I went to troubleshoot this morning, the battery was almost dead and I was barely able to turn the engine over. The gauge crept up to just barely above 12V but wouldn't go any higher than that, even when throttling up to 2K RPM. Any thoughts on if I may have cooked a cell in the battery (it's an Exide Orbital, similar tech to the Optimas) or maybe the voltage regulator? The only other simple thing I can think of is maybe the charge relay behind one of the kick panels which has gone out on me before and caused me alot of asspain trying to track it down.

Help

 

[soggy60]

Shorting battery to ground (i.e., battery + post to body) should not cause any other system malfunction.
The symptoms you describe sound like typical old battery ( few years old).
The momentary short could have lead to premature poopout . . .

 

[D'Animal]

Mine did that and it was my altenator.

 

[NocalFJ60]

I would recharge the battery or take it by an auto parts store to get tested. After the battery is recharged, turn on your lights at night with the cruiser running. While the lights are on, turn of the ignition. If the headlights get dimmer then the alternator is working if they get brighter then it is bad. That is a quick way to check without hooking up the meter.

 

[Godwin]

I'd take another look at the fusible link. If it is the link that's fried it's a cheap and easy fix.

 

[dd113]

Check the engine fuse/charge fuse then meter the alt. I bet it is the fuses
If the truck starts, lights work then links are OK.

 

[Spook50]

Check the engine fuse/charge fuse then meter the alt. I bet it is the fuses
If the truck starts, lights work then links are OK.

The fusible links and the charge fuse were the first things I checked and they were just fine. I've had the battery for almost 3 years now, but that still doesn't make sense that it'd be crapping out already, unless shorting it buggered up a cell. I've actually got my yellow top Optima just sitting inside so I'll put that in and see if I have the same prolems. I'm out of town for a couple days so I'll see if it lost the rest of its charge when I get back into town. Boy am I glad I have a second car now!

 

[Godwin]

Had something similar happen and blew the fusible link. When it went I lost charging from the alternator and the AC.

 

[Spook50]

Had something similar happen and blew the fusible link. When it went I lost charging from the alternator and the AC.

I haven't used the AC, but again, the fusible link checked good when I hit it with an ohmmeter. Something like 0.05 ohms on each connection. Something else I forgot to list was that when I started it up the next morning, as it (very slowly) crept up to 13V, I turned on the cabin fan and the needle slowly moved back down to 12V. Dunno if that tells anyone anything, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

I REALLY hope it's just the battery, since I have a new one of those sitting inside and ready (just need to relocate the relay panel for my headlight harness to fit the battery).

 

[Spook50]

Well today I swapped in my new battery, and the same thing happens. My voltmeter slowly creeps up to about 13-13.5V when the engine is running, but the instant I turn anything on like my fan or the headlights, it drops right down to 12V. I'm thinking now that the voltage regulator may be fried, since it does start to charge well when only the engine is running, but anything else just drops it right to 12V, even when I throttle up above 1200 RPM.

Damnit

 

[toy60]

Well today I swapped in my new battery, and the same thing happens. My voltmeter slowly creeps up to about 13-13.5V when the engine is running, but the instant I turn anything on like my fan or the headlights, it drops right down to 12V. I'm thinking now that the voltage regulator may be fried, since it does start to charge well when only the engine is running, but anything else just drops it right to 12V, even when I throttle up above 1200 RPM.

Damnit

Whell this is good. The altenator should put out 13.5 volts plus when running.
The 12V battery will be 12V fully charged so when you turn off it will read 12V.

Each cell is 2V so if you lose one cell then it will drop to 10V two cells 8V etc.
If one cell shorts it tends to take all the charge but not hold it and you get problems similar to what you discribe.
To check the cells get a Hydrometer from your local autoshop always a good start when looking for charging problems.

Good Luck