Overheating battery
Discussion
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, thanks in advance for any thoughts!
My wife's car just broke down. Started fine, then drove a bit erratically, then just died. All electrical systems dead. No problems / symptoms previously.
When I had a poke around, I noticed that the battery was quite hot, even an hour after she initially broke down. Disconnected battery, sorted her and kids out, just taken a nother look and battery voltage is 8.8v.
Any thoughts on sequence of events?
1) Alternator overcharging leads to cooked battery (I haven't checked levels yet; gotta get the battery out to check, so I'll wait until there's some daylight to see what I'm doing...); but would the engine die erratically then quit if it was overcharging?
2) Battery dying, internal short, so getting hotter and hotter as alternator sticks more and more current through, eventually alternator can't maintain enough voltage to keep (old, condensor and points) engine running?
I'm leaning towards scenario 2, but I don't want ot spend ££££ on a new battery only for it to be cooked (but I will check charging voltage as soon as I fit a new battery to be sure!)
My wife's car just broke down. Started fine, then drove a bit erratically, then just died. All electrical systems dead. No problems / symptoms previously.
When I had a poke around, I noticed that the battery was quite hot, even an hour after she initially broke down. Disconnected battery, sorted her and kids out, just taken a nother look and battery voltage is 8.8v.
Any thoughts on sequence of events?
1) Alternator overcharging leads to cooked battery (I haven't checked levels yet; gotta get the battery out to check, so I'll wait until there's some daylight to see what I'm doing...); but would the engine die erratically then quit if it was overcharging?
2) Battery dying, internal short, so getting hotter and hotter as alternator sticks more and more current through, eventually alternator can't maintain enough voltage to keep (old, condensor and points) engine running?
I'm leaning towards scenario 2, but I don't want ot spend ££££ on a new battery only for it to be cooked (but I will check charging voltage as soon as I fit a new battery to be sure!)
stevieturbo said:
Failing batteries can cause weird running on modern cars.
And at 8.8v and getting warm for whatever reason, it has seriously failed.
Doing what you say and fitting a new battery and ensuring the alternator is charging correctly is about all you can do really.
Thanks for the thoughts And at 8.8v and getting warm for whatever reason, it has seriously failed.
Doing what you say and fitting a new battery and ensuring the alternator is charging correctly is about all you can do really.
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