Car Battery/Starter woes...please help 8-(

**750Y** · 21st July 2005, 11:45

I have a 12 volt car battery for my ute. it has sat outside in a paddock for 3 months powering a portable electric fence. I re-charged it up recently but when i measured the voltage with my multimeter 2 weeks later(after only a couple hours fishfinder use) it read 6.7. WTF? does this mean it's stuffed?.
OK... heres where my knowledge/experience runs out...
I accidentally attached the big positive(+) starter feed to the earth(-) terminal on the starter. then when i tried to connect the battery it sparked(surprise surprise) so i pulled it straight off.
A quick look around & I sorted the wires out & reconnected the battery. I tried to start the ute & the starter solenoid just clicks, no turn over. The starter is fully rebuilt.
I'm thinking(hoping) the battery is just too low to turn over the engine which is why it won't crank(even a little).
any ideas appreciated(& yes! I know what a dumbarse i am getting the poles wrong)
cheers...

**Ixion** · 21st July 2005, 12:11

Originally Posted by 750Y

I have a 12 volt car battery for my ute. it has sat outside in a paddock for 3 months powering a portable electric fence. I re-charged it up recently but when i measured the voltage with my multimeter 2 weeks later(after only a couple hours fishfinder use) it read 6.7. WTF? does this mean it's stuffed?.
OK... heres where my knowledge/experience runs out...
I accidentally attached the big positive(+) starter feed to the earth(-) terminal on the starter. then when i tried to connect the battery it sparked(surprise surprise) so i pulled it straight off.
A quick look around & I sorted the wires out & reconnected the battery. I tried to start the ute & the starter solenoid just clicks, no turn over. The starter is fully rebuilt.
I'm thinking(hoping) the battery is just too low to turn over the engine which is why it won't crank(even a little).
any ideas appreciated(& yes! I know what a dumbarse i am getting the poles wrong)
cheers...

Earthing teh starter feed shouldn't have caused any problem. (under these circumstances)

6.7V under no load will normally be much too low to turn over a car engine. Suspect your battery is knackered

**2_SL0** · 21st July 2005, 12:28

Your batt is goosed.

**Motu** · 21st July 2005, 12:28

6.7v is half the cells out - I reckon a cow pissed on it.

**750Y** · 21st July 2005, 12:35

ThankYou ThankYou oh wise one. I'll use a good known battery from my other ute to test, i ran out of light last night, all good fingers crossed 8-).
cheers also guys & as for the cow piss i reckon i bottled it for ya motu, what drop did ya say ya liked again? i have some spare labels lol.

**TwoSeven** · 21st July 2005, 12:45

Is it a sealed battery. If not, have you checked to see if it just requires an acid top up.

Otherwise, if its not holding the charge (charge it up to 14 volt, leave it for a week and it shouldnt have dropped), then its likely to have sulphated up. Give it a good solid bang on some concrete (to break up the sulphate - but not hard enough to damage the cells) and then trickle charge at 0.3amp for about 3 days. It needs to hold more than 14v with nothing connected.

**Paul in NZ** · 21st July 2005, 14:25

Mate... Any 12V battery showing a no load voltage like that is probably poked! Leaving them out in cold damp conditions does them no good at all.

There are potions that can reduce the sulphation but..

Take the tops off and check the water level. Top up the cells with DISTILLED WATER (from repco or supercheap) and trickle charge it without letting it get too hot.

Let it sit an hour or so and re check the voltage.

or...

Save yourself the grief and get a new one. They don't last forever...

Paul N

ps - If you are going to park it outside for ages without using it, there are solar powered battery conditioners that will help the battery out but really, parking any vehicle on damp grass aint good.