CHRIS TODD Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 For reasons unknown my battery ( which is the old type with 6 screw caps with vent holes in the top ) has started dribbling from the cap vent holes when I drive. i would love to think the G force round the corners is the cause, but my drivings the same. Before I junk what was a perfectly good battery has anyone else experienced this or more importantly cured it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Chris Have you maybe recently topped it up and been a bit too generous with the water? It should be filled till the plates are just covered and no higher. If you overfill, you may get some water blown out. If not, then it may be that your alternator has started charging at too high a rate and is causing the water to spit out due to vigorous gassing. How old is the battery and how old is the alternator? rgds Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS TODD Posted April 19, 2003 Author Share Posted April 19, 2003 Chris Thanks for your quick of the mark response. i' ve had the car 3 years and I reckon the battery is 5 - 6 years old at least, although its not as old as the car itself which is 1982 Over the winter I trickle charged the battery and it was OK, the car went for a 12000 service and the battery was a little overfull so I tipped some water out! The water is still above the plates so I reckon your advice that it is overfull (still ) is a good place to start tomorrow morning. Hopefully I might get a drive with sloshing acid over the panel Thanks for your thoughts regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted April 19, 2003 Share Posted April 19, 2003 Chris 5-6 years for a battery is really good life - you obviously look after it well, eg: the trickle charging throughout the winter - great stuff. Only about 20% of batteries make it past 4 years. Sounds like you've hit on the cause of your sloshing water problem too. rgds Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 Granted .. your battery is well past it's "use by" date, but a faulty voltage regulator has been known to cause acid 'bubble over' due to continous caharging where none was required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted April 20, 2003 Share Posted April 20, 2003 ......which was what I suggested as the other possible cause in my first post if overfilling turned out not to be an issue. There is no separate voltage regulator.... it's part of the alternator. If the battery is charged (and has had time to recover from starting) the alternator volts will be somewhere around 13.2v - 13.5v. Straight after starting the alternator volts will be around 14.2 - 14.5v for a short while. If the alternator volts are significantly higher than these figures, the alternator may have a problem or the battery my be knackered, causing the alternator to put out a higher voltage. However, from the evidence so far, it does sound like the overfilling issue is going to be the cause of the problem. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alias Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 I had a very similar problem. Rob Walker fixed it for me by getting some plastic tubing (same gauge as the washer fluid tubing) and attached one end to the drain hole, and tie-wrapped the rest of it so the other end was 1cm lower than my chassis. Worked a treat. One car - 1400 Supersport with 6 gears and clamshell wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 Actually, I'd forgotten that. My Banner battery already had that tube installed from new. Good thinking batman. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBerlin Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Batteries will also ooze when they are getting tired and are in constant need of recharge- sort of the same effect as an over active regulator. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 NEVER seen an Alternator that did not have a Voltage regulator.. usually as in the Bosch ones it's a small module than also holds the brushes.. these have a long but limited life and Failures are not unheard of... good news is they are V cheap and replaceable in moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Bare Misunderstanding here. When I said, "...there's not a separate voltage regulator, it's part of the alternator....", I meant there's not a separate black box somewhere in the engine bay which is a voltage regulator, it's part of the alternator assembly. Apologies if this was not clear Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS TODD Posted April 22, 2003 Author Share Posted April 22, 2003 Thanks guys for your help so far. Sadly I dont have a drain hole, but have established the battery is 3 years old. It seems to hold its charge perfectly. I had it out at the weekend and lowered the water levels and made a short trip with no problem. I hope to get a decent run tomorrow for the final test Interestingly the battery casing is quite flexible when you press the ends it goes bink bonk and hisses air. Being an 1982 model its low slung and close to the exhaust pipes so I guess the heat has had some effect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS TODD Posted April 23, 2003 Author Share Posted April 23, 2003 Covered 120 miles today, no worries, problem fixed. Just a tiny bit too much water caused the problem. Thanks again for your suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilsjuke Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 When you look down into the cells you will see a splash guard( the bit with the holes in it )the plates are below this this so you may have overfilled if above . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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