hey guys new to fourm and need help i have a 1968 camaro that im haveing a voltage problum i resently did a ls1 swap and in process the battery ran down now im ready to get this thing running i also installed dakota digital gauges and i was in the process of wireing them in and i check the switched 12 and its reading 9v so i figured the battery was dead again go and check the baterry and it 12v. i check the cigarette lighter voltage its 11v but when i turn key on its 8-9v. also when i hooked the battery charger up the charger read 20% chargered and it went from 20% to 100% in like 15 mins seems to quick. so figured bad battery. any sugestions?

 

Whoa! That was a bit confussing...
First of all a good battery should read about 13.5 volts directly off it's terminals.
Are u getting exactly 12volts right from the battery? If yes, that is actually a problem.
Where are you measuring 9 volts?

If you measure 9 volts at the battery when you turn the ignition switch on...you have a serious problem! Either your battery is really shot or you have something wired that is drawing so much juice that it is droping the battery voltage (the last is highly unlikley..as there will be heat, smoke or something visible).

You said a few bad words...."dead again". Traditional acid-lead battery do not like to go "dead". If they do, it shortens their life cycle. They can typical tollerate one or two "dead" periods. But after this, they will typical not be any good...it sounds kinda of like that is what has happened to you.

Vic

Vic

 

Hey man I know it was kinda confusing ha but it end up being a bad battery haven't had luck with the optima batterys thanks for the reply I'm ready to get this thing running.

 

yeah optima are not very good for classic cars that only see seasonal drving they work great if you drive the car with one everyday. the battery ive used for the old cars is an oddesey.

 

I know what you mean about the Optima battery. The one in my 69 only lasted a little more than 7 years!

 

Okay. I'm not trying to be funny....but is 7 years a bad thing?

I have used Optima in every classic car I have ever owned..including a 6 volt one in my Caddy.
I have NEVER had a issue..never....and I even discharged them more times than I care to admit. Every one was seasonal only.


Vic

 

I just wanted to add one thing...

Several months after I purchased my '68, I realized that the battery that the previous owner installed ( a lead-acid type) had been over-charged and was leaking acid all over my battery tray. It damaged my battery tray, rad cradle and right inner fender. It damaged them to the point where I now have to replace all of them.

For that reason alone, I replaced the battery with an Optima. These are gell-cells and I have never known anyone to have overcharged them such thatt hey leaked. In fact, I have personal (not on purpose) over-charged Optima batteries without any negetive repercussions.
(I'm sticking with my Optima...yeah I know they don't look like they belong in my '68....but to be honest...I'd rather that then have to replace fenders and such.)

 

im not saying optimas are a bad battery im just going of what ive heard from a few local guys around here. ive never used one, ive used oddesey and they are a dry cell like an optima. ive have a napa battery in my 68 right now with a delco cover and so far no problems (knock on wood). i had another battery before that that did the same thing with overcharging luckily i caught it early before it did any serious damage.

 

Camaroboy, I did not realize that the Oddessy was a dry cell.
More importantly is the fact that you can fit a DELCO cover over it.

When I installed the Optima I had to give up the Delco cover because the terminal post spacing was differemt....bummer!!

Maybe I'll look into the Oddessy battery. Thanks for the info.

 

got new battery in and im not sure if its a problum but i have 12.5 at battery but when i turn key on i have 10.5 inside 2v drop. is that normal or should i start pulling fuse and find out whats makein it drop. Also wanted to make sure nothing was pulling power when keys on someone told me you can pull the power cable off and check voltage between the power cable and the power post and if you have voltage then theres something pulling power draining the battery. also the voltage regulator and alternator pulgs not pluged in dont know if that would make a diffrence. im not useing the factory regulator or alternator ofcourse because of the ls1 swap.