[T3] Electrical questions

[Sean Bartnik]

Hi all,
Just to close the loop on this, not long before I had the initial no-start problem I measured battery voltage at 6.1v which was a hair low.  Next day or whenever is when I aimed my headlights and had the issue where the car would not start.

Put the battery on the charger that night and all seemed well for a while.  More recently had been noticing sometimes it would seem to crank slow, then if I turned key off and cranked again it would crank quickly and fire right up.

Got myself a hydrometer and checked out the battery.  The two outer cells seem to be tip-top but the central cell was lagging.  Put it on the charger for several hours and noted that the center cell never started bubbling.  Another hydrometer check shows the two outer cells in the green (fully charged) while center cell is in the red.  Battery is currently showing 4.2v after sitting off the charger all day.  Looks like that center cell decided to give up the ghost rather suddenly, though I guess it could have been slowly dying for a while and causing my past issues.  

It’s an Interstate 65-month battery with purchase date of Aug. or Sept. 2010 punched out so I guess it was about time.  Optima red top is on the way.

We’ll see how charging system performs with a healthy battery.

-Sean
’65 Squareback