Overheating battery

[malazn mafia]

Noticed a burning sulphuric smell and lifted the bonnet to check. To my horror the terminals were smoking and the battery was extremely hot. I know the battery isn't the best as it was sitting discharged for a very long time, but is this likely to be a problem with the battery or the car itself ?

[OZYWALKER]

More likely that the alternator is overcharging the battery.

[malazn mafia]

Is it ok to run the car without battery to drive it to get fixed ?

[malazn mafia]

Hooked the car to a multi and its reading 14v. Would it be the alternator ?

[Tucool]

[QUOTE=malazn mafia;5888803]Hooked the car to a multi and its reading 14v. Would it be the alternator ?[/QUOTE**

Doubtful.

[Olbucko]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Is it ok to run the car without battery to drive it to get fixed ?

No, You could do a lot of damage to the electronics of a modern car. Recently I disconnected the battery for on a 40 year old car while it was running and managed to blow a diode in the alternator in a few seconds.

[Tucool]

wouldn't be a century battery by any chance?

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by Tucool

wouldn't be a century battery by any chance?

It's an exide. Bit the bullet and drove with no battery, with no consequence. Fitted new battery and all seems ok, will keep an eye on battery temperatures. The voltage gauge reads spot on 14.5V, regardless of RPM, so the alternator must be good ?

[ebxr8240]

Could be suspect Regulator ? Alternators can over charge if battery cell is down too..

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Noticed a burning sulphuric smell and lifted the bonnet to check. To my horror the terminals were smoking and the battery was extremely hot. I know the battery isn't the best as it was sitting discharged for a very long time, but is this likely to be a problem with the battery or the car itself ?

I think it was your battery that was the problem.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by trublu

I think it was your battery that was the problem.

Seems to be the case. New battery , went for a bit of a drive, spirited and cruising and the new battery and terminals are still cool to the touch. Thanks guys for the advices

[Tucool]

a lot of so called maintenance free batteries do need a look at,false advertising.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Could be suspect Regulator ? Alternators can over charge if battery cell is down too..

Probably a dead cell in battery or internal short, this morning had to use a jump starter to start the car.

[ebxr8240]

Funny thing with FG GT it just wont start or have ignition if battery is suspect !! My one started in morning . Then when restarting at school it had dead battery.. After fitting new battery .. All is fine.. The local Repco guy said he needed to order in a special FPV battery..Bought a good battery down the road for $140...

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Funny thing with FG GT it just wont start or have ignition if battery is suspect !! My one started in morning . Then when restarting at school it had dead battery.. After fitting new battery .. All is fine.. The local Repco guy said he needed to order in a special FPV battery..Bought a good battery down the road for $140...

Those five litre s/c engines are a mother to start, the amperage required is just insane. Left headlights on once and a Ford Territory revving its head off couldn't provide enough current to even get the engine to crank until after 15 minutes of building up enough electrical charge to get the engine to budge.

[uniacidz]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

Those five litre s/c engines are a mother to start, the amperage required is just insane. Left headlights on once and a Ford Territory revving its head off couldn't provide enough current to even get the engine to crank until after 15 minutes of building up enough electrical charge to get the engine to budge.

Took me around 15mins to get a Subaru Impressa R 2004 ish model started.

If battery is dead or close to it, does take some time to start.

[ebxr8240]

Yes it SEEMS like ECU is controlling battery output.. It started fine in morning.. Then after 10 min drive, 20 min being turned off... Even with jumper leads on 200 A/H battery.. NO elect feed, connections are good.... Fitted a new battery..FIXED !! I guess its there to prevent things suffering from low amps? .. [ Low volts requires higher amps to do same job, always propotional] As said seems to have built in breaker ? The reds or lights didn't work either.. Newer starter motors have gear reduction for light weight high torque..

[data_mine]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

It's an exide. Bit the bullet and drove with no battery, with no consequence. Fitted new battery and all seems ok, will keep an eye on battery temperatures. The voltage gauge reads spot on 14.5V, regardless of RPM, so the alternator must be good ?

You were lucky. Without a battery the regulator will have nothing to limit its output and would've been overcharging significantly you could've ended up with thousands of dollars of fried ecu icc etc to replace.

[TheInterceptor]

I had this same issue in my outback. Having twin batteries, my smaller one started to smoke and burn. Disconnected it, got a new one and it was all good after that.

When the battery doesn't want to live anymore but hasn't dropped cells, it'll overheat.

[winlucky]

Anyone need to replace their battery?

I've got a Century Hi Performance 57EF 540CCA for sale if anyone wants to save some bucks. Still has 16 months full replacement warranty.

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[uniacidz]

I had a battery once that was a NRMA battery but wasnt right and would make a hissing noise when charged from car or charger.

Took it out and let it discharge and disposed of at recyclers

Never ever heard a hissing battery before