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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Battery

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Discussion Topic: Battery

silverchief

03-23-2020 @ 7:06 PM

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My stock 46 coupe has a new wiring harness and a Duracell 6 volt lead acid battery, less than one year old. Disconnected it in Dec at full charge for the long winter. Hooked it up this morning and it turned the engine over enough to start. Let it warn up a little, than shut it off to see how it would do on a second start. A lot weaker but it starts easily so it came to life. Amp showed a steady small charge into the battery. Activating the headlights or radio dropped the needle, but a little increase in rpm brought it right back up to center. Shut it off for a third start and this time there was absolutely nothing, not even a little
solenoid click.

Put a proven voltmeter on the batt and it read a little over six volts. Nevertheless I hooked it up to my charger and let it charge for one hour. Charger initially showed 2 1/2 amps which dropped to two amps after one hour. Hit the starter button and it cranked like crazy and roared to life.

Is there a simple explanation here? The battery, like the rest of the engine compartment is spotlessly clean. All of your thoughts will be appreciated.

03-23-2020 @ 7:18 PM

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Bad connections at battery. Sounds like the battery posts and cables need attention. Shine those connections up with a file or steel battery brush. Make sure those connections are tight when you're finished dressing them....

ford38v8

03-24-2020 @ 12:07 AM

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Cranking an engine to start will generally require a 5+ mile drive at cruise speed to recharge to the same level as before the cranking. Your starting 3 times and testing headlights to boot, drew too much life out of the battery without adequate replenishment. The previous advice regarding clean/tight terminals is also spot on, as no matter how good your charging system, poor connections will deplete a charge faster than it can recharge.

Your voltmeter showing "right back up to center" merely indicates the charging system is working properly, not an indication of a full charge. Take it for a drive, wave back to the girlies, no radio, no headlights, 5 plus miles or so, and your system should normalize.

Alan

37RAGTOPMAN

03-24-2020 @ 6:00 AM

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I always use a BATTERY MAINTAINER.,
these run about $20.00 on the ebay,and are both 6 and 12 volts, [ just about and auto supply sells these also]
hook to all my cars, and even my Polaris atv
all the time,
keeps battery fully charged,
batteries that just sit for long periods, will discharge them selves, a hydrometer if used will test the battery cells,
to see if one is going bad, small one are also sold in auto supply stores,
hope this helps, 1937Ragtopman

charging more then 7.4 volts will harm the battery,
use distilled water in the battery , I use water from a dehumidifier which contains no minerals and is FREE

trjford8

03-24-2020 @ 7:39 AM

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In addition to checking the connections at the battery you need to check all your ground connections. Make sure they are clean and tight.

TomO

03-24-2020 @ 8:24 AM

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I agree with Alan, operator problem.

There probably is nothing wrong with your car or battery that driving it won't cure. During the winter months, use a battery maintainer as most batteries will discharge slightly every day, even if there is no external current flow.

Tom

silverchief

03-24-2020 @ 11:13 AM

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Thanks very much guys.

I'm going to start with a very close examination of the battery terminals, and move forward from there.

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