battery

geraldchainsaw · 2017-09-08 16:49

hi all, since i havn't much experience in this stuff, can someone tell me how do u know if you have a dead cell in a battery?, after all this year and thinking it was a bad connection or relay or whatever with the trans, turns out it might be the battery, thanks for any info you might have, jerry

JimNolan · 2017-09-08 17:05

Jerry,
Take it out and take it to NAPA and let them check it. You can watch when they do it and compare it to a good battery so you can see the difference. Let me add this Jerry. Stay away from batteries that are made to duplicate a original 57 Ford battery. I spent over $600.00 on those pieces of crap. Get a NAPA battery with at least 650 cold cranking amps. It won't fit you battery case perfectly but you can get a hold down to match the battery and it won't look bad at all. You could spend a lot of time checking this and checking that when just a trip down to Napa will tell you what you want to know. Good luck

geraldchainsaw · 2017-09-08 18:16

thanks Jim, in my post i forgot to ask where to get a good battery. i have to add, i hate to say it, but 1 more year and its the big 80, i'm still learning, so i have to add again, i was charging the battery, and darn if the battery cable wasn't loose, and also broken because of over tightening, so i have a new battery cable and charging, c what happens, darn, hope i don't start to forget to much

JimNolan · 2017-09-08 19:09

I'm ten years younger than you but I garrantee I don't feel younger. I just buy NAPA batteries. Whenever I go to get a new one the old one ends up being 8 years old. Never had trouble with a NAPA battery.

lalessi1 · 2017-09-09 08:58

Just for reference, I bought a correct original size battery from Motorcraft at the Ford dealer. Not too bad at $99. It is a little smaller as far as cranking amps though but it spins my 462 with 11.2 CR just fine.

thomasso · 2017-09-09 12:51

Got my correct size battery from Interstate Battery. Not tar top but filed down the threads on some old Autolite caps for push fit in holes. Looks fairly authentic.

hiball3985 · 2017-09-13 06:48

I've had really good luck with Interstates in all my cars. The correct one for the 57 (27F) was also used in many trucks. My first one lasted 4 years and I'm on my second one now. Most others have lasted 7-9 years

geraldchainsaw · 2017-09-13 18:48

i'm going to give a update. since i couldn't fix it, i took it to a electric shop thats done great work for me in the past. i';ll start by saying when i turned the key nothing happened, checked the battery and it would read 12v, put the charger on and it would start right up, sit overnite and goes down to 12v again, so i took itin for a check up, he had it for 2 days and everything worked like it should, just like when u take your car in for something, and they can't find anything, so i've taken it home and its worked fine ever since, what a pain, so we'll c what happens now. if any one has any ideas lets hear it.

Ray · 2017-09-13 21:40

Sooo, I have been dealing with this all summer. If the battery shows 12V, the battery is probably OK. The only other check you can make is a "load test" which requires a "tester". Don't think that is necessary. The solenoid might have failed but the starter is more suspect. Also, check the connections for discoloration and heat. I currently have a starter that won't work cold, works great warm. You never know what murphy will hand you. Good luck

John Palmer · 2017-09-14 21:38

You have an intermittent problem, and you are the guy that will need to diagnose it, "when it happens". These kinds of problems are the most frustrating, but usually are easy to fix after you figure out where the problem is.

You say that you turned the key and nothing happened? Exactly what does that mean? Did you hear the solenoid click? If not, you need to take a test light and check the small red wire and see if it lights up when the key is turned to start. If not, you need to look back towards the ignition switch and connections. If it does light then continue on to the solenoid and starter. Basically you are in the best position to test it, when it occurs so have a test light, or a multi meter handy.

Grounds and connections. You need to clean and tighten all of your connections. Collector cars set unused much of the time and this can cause rust and corrosion, it does not take much to cause the problems you have. Battery cable terminals, loose battery cable connections (at either end), loose or missing ground cables, loose battery cable at the starter, are some of the easy things you can check. Take them loose, clean the connections with sand paper, then re-tighten.

You can do a quick "load test" of the battery with just a simple multi meter attached and get the reading "while the engine is cranking, with the lights on". HF gives these away for free.

You will likely kick yourself after you find it. It's going to be something simple, and it will be right in front of your eyes. We have all had things like this happen, good luck.

JimNolan · 2017-09-15 13:54

Jerry,
I've seen some weird things with DC Current. I worked third shift once in a factory and had trouble with a huge DC Motor not running. I couldn't find anything wrong with the motor, the power or the control pulling in the relays to start the motor. I called in a old Engineer that had set the motor up originally. He took a look at it and laughed. He said, take a piece of emery cloth and clean the contacts on the motor relay. I looked at the contacts on the relay and they were clean and smooth but after cleaning them the motor ran great. The engineer said that over a period of time the surface of the contacts form a coating on them that ends up acting like a diode, limiting current flow in one direction. He said if I'd reversed direction of the motor it would have ran. DC electricity isn't Nuclear Science but it is magic. lol

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