Battery keeps shorting out
Thread Starter
1st Gear
Joined: Sep 2023
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Battery keeps shorting out
3 times in 6 months of driving my 76 I have shorted out/blown the battery. Always after a start and very short move...like 30 feet or less; when car is turned off and restarted later, the battery is dead and won't hold a charge. Very frustrating. Any ideas?
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,705
Likes: 2,573
You cannt rapidly discharge a fully charged battery without melting something. What determines the dead battery won't hold a charge, a load test? Have you done a parasitic drain test? You could have a partially discharged battery that will start the car only once and then be dead.
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 98
Likes: 3
My 81 was like that when I first got it and it turned out to be a bad connection at the wire that comes from the positive battery post to the junction terminal by the battery. That wire feeds the entire car and it would lose connection but a jump would seem to fix it for a while.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 11,931
Likes: 4,497
From: Virginia
Instead of buying more batteries, get a battery disconnect. One that screws together is only $10- or so.
We can only guess, unless you have the ability to do a parasitic draw test. The issue could even be a bad diode in the alternator.
We can only guess, unless you have the ability to do a parasitic draw test. The issue could even be a bad diode in the alternator.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 127
Likes: 37
From: Brentwood, Tennessee
Battery losin charge
Get a trickle charger/battery maintainer to keep the battery charged when not driving the vehicle. They can run about 30 to 40 bucks. I have one on my 82 CE.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 53,648
Likes: 878
From: Southern Cal Ca
St. Jude Donor '22
find the short before serious things happen.
like fire, battery exploding, wires melted taking equipment with them.
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