Problem with battery?

Hi

I started my car today and when I went to take off the car stopped and
battery light lit so I parked the car looked under the hood and saw that the
negative terminal had all this white foam around it and stains coming from
negative to middle of the battery. So is it time for a new battery, the
battery is 3 years old.

if I need a new battery what do I get like the, brand, CCA, Group Size? and
I have a 1997 ford Taurus.

Thank You for your help.

On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:08:41 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:

>Hi
>
>I started my car today and when I went to take off the car stopped and
>battery light lit so I parked the car looked under the hood and saw that the
>negative terminal had all this white foam around it and stains coming from
>negative to middle of the battery. So is it time for a new battery, the
>battery is 3 years old.
>
>if I need a new battery what do I get like the, brand, CCA, Group Size? and
>I have a 1997 ford Taurus.
>
>Thank You for your help.
>

If you buy this at an auto shop, they will know what you need.
If you pick one up off the shelf at K Mart like I do, you look up in a
book what you need, a book they have over in the car battery
department that looks like a phone book.

It will be big, heavy, and if you are a female, you will need a store
clerk to assist you, so let -them- look up the battery for you, and
then check to see if they have it in stock.

If you are a male, you will take the battery at K Mart, install it,
and then bring the old one back to Customer Service for recycling and
your credit refund.

Lg

"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:08:41 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:
>
> >Hi
> >
> >I started my car today and when I went to take off the car stopped and
> >battery light lit so I parked the car looked under the hood and saw that
the
> >negative terminal had all this white foam around it and stains coming
from
> >negative to middle of the battery. So is it time for a new battery, the
> >battery is 3 years old.
> >
> >if I need a new battery what do I get like the, brand, CCA, Group Size?
and
> >I have a 1997 ford Taurus.
> >
> >Thank You for your help.
> >
>
> If you buy this at an auto shop, they will know what you need.
> If you pick one up off the shelf at K Mart like I do, you look up in a
> book what you need, a book they have over in the car battery
> department that looks like a phone book.
>
> It will be big, heavy, and if you are a female, you will need a store
> clerk to assist you, so let -them- look up the battery for you, and
> then check to see if they have it in stock.
>
> If you are a male, you will take the battery at K Mart, install it,
> and then bring the old one back to Customer Service for recycling and
> your credit refund.
>

If you are a female and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart
and ask the auto parts department manager to assist you and he will get you
the right battery and probably some anticorrosion spray or washers, a pair
of vice grips and a wrench or two, followed by some instructions, which you
will then go home and follow and have a new battery in the vehicle.

If you are male and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart and
look in the battery manual which you will misinterpret, buy your battery,
take
it home, drink some beer, go to remove the old battery and find that a bolt
is
corroded together, hunt around for the vice grips you know you have, drink
some
more beer, go back to Kmart and buy vice grips, come back, drink some more
beer, proceed to break the clamp in half taking it off, swear and drink
some more beer, go back to Kmart and buy a replacement clamp, come home
drink some more beer, find you don't have a pair of shears that will cut the
old
clamp off the end of the battery cable, swear some more, go back to Kmart
again and
buy a battery cable, come back home and drink some more beer, remove the
old battery and spill battery acid over the garage floor, swear some more,
take
your wife's box of baking soda and pour it over the garage floor to
neutralize
the acid, drink some more beer, return the remainder of the box to the
kitchen
and track in baking soda mixture to the kitchen floor, come back out and
discover
the new battery won't fit, swear some more, drink some more beer, drive back
to Kmart and exchange the new battery for the correct one that fits, come
back,
drink some more beer, install the new battery and yell at your wife to get
off
your back when she yells that you said you were going to be done with the
car 2 hours ago. Then the next morning on your way to work stop at Kmart
and buy anticorrosion spray and stand in the Kmart parking lot with the hood
up
spraying on anticorrosion to the battery terminals.

:-)

Ted

On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 01:52:38 -0800, "Ted Mittelstaedt"
> wrote:

>
>"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:08:41 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:
>>
>> >Hi
>> >
>> >I started my car today and when I went to take off the car stopped and
>> >battery light lit so I parked the car looked under the hood and saw that
>the
>> >negative terminal had all this white foam around it and stains coming
>from
>> >negative to middle of the battery. So is it time for a new battery, the
>> >battery is 3 years old.
>> >
>> >if I need a new battery what do I get like the, brand, CCA, Group Size?
>and
>> >I have a 1997 ford Taurus.
>> >
>> >Thank You for your help.
>> >
>>
>> If you buy this at an auto shop, they will know what you need.
>> If you pick one up off the shelf at K Mart like I do, you look up in a
>> book what you need, a book they have over in the car battery
>> department that looks like a phone book.
>>
>> It will be big, heavy, and if you are a female, you will need a store
>> clerk to assist you, so let -them- look up the battery for you, and
>> then check to see if they have it in stock.
>>
>> If you are a male, you will take the battery at K Mart, install it,
>> and then bring the old one back to Customer Service for recycling and
>> your credit refund.
>>
>
>If you are a female and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart
>and ask the auto parts department manager to assist you and he will get you
>the right battery and probably some anticorrosion spray or washers, a pair
>of vice grips and a wrench or two, followed by some instructions, which you
>will then go home and follow and have a new battery in the vehicle.
>
>If you are male and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart and
>look in the battery manual which you will misinterpret, buy your battery,
>take
>it home, drink some beer, go to remove the old battery and find that a bolt
>is
>corroded together, hunt around for the vice grips you know you have, drink
>some
>more beer, go back to Kmart and buy vice grips, come back, drink some more
>beer, proceed to break the clamp in half taking it off, swear and drink
>some more beer, go back to Kmart and buy a replacement clamp, come home
>drink some more beer, find you don't have a pair of shears that will cut the
>old
>clamp off the end of the battery cable, swear some more, go back to Kmart
>again and
>buy a battery cable, come back home and drink some more beer, remove the
>old battery and spill battery acid over the garage floor, swear some more,
>take
>your wife's box of baking soda and pour it over the garage floor to
>neutralize
>the acid, drink some more beer, return the remainder of the box to the
>kitchen
>and track in baking soda mixture to the kitchen floor, come back out and
>discover
>the new battery won't fit, swear some more, drink some more beer, drive back
>to Kmart and exchange the new battery for the correct one that fits, come
>back,
>drink some more beer, install the new battery and yell at your wife to get
>off
>your back when she yells that you said you were going to be done with the
>car 2 hours ago. Then the next morning on your way to work stop at Kmart
>and buy anticorrosion spray and stand in the Kmart parking lot with the hood
>up
>spraying on anticorrosion to the battery terminals.
>
>:-)
>
>Ted
>

I can see you've done this before ;0

You left out the important part:

a battery off the shelf needs to be charged before being placed into
service in the vehicle. Chances are it has -some- charge left over
from the factory, but it is certainly insufficient.

So, my advice is to fully charge the thing before installing. Charge
it out of the vehicle, or in the vehicle with the cables, or at least
one cable disconnected. The idea is to keep from an overvoltage from
the charger that could potentially damage delicate computer
electronics.

I am going to buy a knife switch today to put in series with one of my
terminals, probably the ground terminal, so when I charge the thing
I'm not connected to anything sensitive.

I don't think it matters if b+ or neg is disconnected, just that the
vehicle system is taken out of parallel with the charger and battery.

Lg

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 04:22:31 -0600, Lawrence Glickman
> wrote:

>On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 01:52:38 -0800, "Ted Mittelstaedt"
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
. ..
>>> On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:08:41 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:
>>>
>>> >Hi
>>> >
>>> >I started my car today and when I went to take off the car stopped and
>>> >battery light lit so I parked the car looked under the hood and saw that
>>the
>>> >negative terminal had all this white foam around it and stains coming
>>from
>>> >negative to middle of the battery. So is it time for a new battery, the
>>> >battery is 3 years old.
>>> >
>>> >if I need a new battery what do I get like the, brand, CCA, Group Size?
>>and
>>> >I have a 1997 ford Taurus.
>>> >
>>> >Thank You for your help.
>>> >
>>>
>>> If you buy this at an auto shop, they will know what you need.
>>> If you pick one up off the shelf at K Mart like I do, you look up in a
>>> book what you need, a book they have over in the car battery
>>> department that looks like a phone book.
>>>
>>> It will be big, heavy, and if you are a female, you will need a store
>>> clerk to assist you, so let -them- look up the battery for you, and
>>> then check to see if they have it in stock.
>>>
>>> If you are a male, you will take the battery at K Mart, install it,
>>> and then bring the old one back to Customer Service for recycling and
>>> your credit refund.
>>>
>>
>>If you are a female and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart
>>and ask the auto parts department manager to assist you and he will get you
>>the right battery and probably some anticorrosion spray or washers, a pair
>>of vice grips and a wrench or two, followed by some instructions, which you
>>will then go home and follow and have a new battery in the vehicle.
>>
>>If you are male and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart and
>>look in the battery manual which you will misinterpret, buy your battery,
>>take
>>it home, drink some beer, go to remove the old battery and find that a bolt
>>is
>>corroded together, hunt around for the vice grips you know you have, drink
>>some
>>more beer, go back to Kmart and buy vice grips, come back, drink some more
>>beer, proceed to break the clamp in half taking it off, swear and drink
>>some more beer, go back to Kmart and buy a replacement clamp, come home
>>drink some more beer, find you don't have a pair of shears that will cut the
>>old
>>clamp off the end of the battery cable, swear some more, go back to Kmart
>>again and
>>buy a battery cable, come back home and drink some more beer, remove the
>>old battery and spill battery acid over the garage floor, swear some more,
>>take
>>your wife's box of baking soda and pour it over the garage floor to
>>neutralize
>>the acid, drink some more beer, return the remainder of the box to the
>>kitchen
>>and track in baking soda mixture to the kitchen floor, come back out and
>>discover
>>the new battery won't fit, swear some more, drink some more beer, drive back
>>to Kmart and exchange the new battery for the correct one that fits, come
>>back,
>>drink some more beer, install the new battery and yell at your wife to get
>>off
>>your back when she yells that you said you were going to be done with the
>>car 2 hours ago. Then the next morning on your way to work stop at Kmart
>>and buy anticorrosion spray and stand in the Kmart parking lot with the hood
>>up
>>spraying on anticorrosion to the battery terminals.
>>
>>:-)
>>
>>Ted
>>
>
>I can see you've done this before ;0
>
>You left out the important part:
>
>a battery off the shelf needs to be charged before being placed into
>service in the vehicle. Chances are it has -some- charge left over
>from the factory, but it is certainly insufficient.
>
>So, my advice is to fully charge the thing before installing. Charge
>it out of the vehicle, or in the vehicle with the cables, or at least
>one cable disconnected. The idea is to keep from an overvoltage from
>the charger that could potentially damage delicate computer
>electronics.
>
>I am going to buy a knife switch today to put in series with one of my
>terminals, probably the ground terminal, so when I charge the thing
>I'm not connected to anything sensitive.
>
>I don't think it matters if b+ or neg is disconnected, just that the
>vehicle system is taken out of parallel with the charger and battery.
>
>Lg

I forgot to add:

If/when you disconnect this cable, you will lose your computer-learned
parameters for your engine, so in order to AVOID THIS, you just plug
in a 12 volt gel cell into your cigarette lighter to keep the PCM
"alive" while the main battery is taken out of the loop.

This is done with a cigarette lighter plug into the cigarette lighter
socket, and the ignition turned to acc ( accessories ). 12 volt gel
cell will hold the memory a long long time while you charge the main
battery.

Now that is time to go to bed. A busy day today ;-()

Lg

Hi

Thanks for all the help. What I did was the next day the car was working
fine, I took it to advance auto parts
the guy said to clean the terminals, got a terminal cleaner and baking soda,
parked the car, disconnected the negative terminal
brushed the negative connector and terminal used a tooth brush to remove
extra debris around the terminal,
the positive looked fine so I didn't touch it I reconnected the negative,
turned on the car and the car was still fine so I went to
the home depot to get plumbing parts (that's another story :]), came home.
The next day the car wouldn't start, called the
tow service, while waiting for the tow I cleaned the terminals and tried to
start it, after the fifth time the car started,
I let it idle for a few minutes so the alternator can maybe charge it a
little then started driving and then it was fine again, so I
went to the auto service. they tested the battery and charged it. They told
me the battery was fine, electrical system looks
good, and the alt was fine, they think the alt is not charging the battery
enough upon startup so that when I take off the car stops. so what
they said to do is turn the car on and rev it a bit before driving. So I'm
just going to keep driving it until another problem
occurs and then replace the battery, if that doesn't work then the alt.

Thanks for the feedback guys

"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 04:22:31 -0600, Lawrence Glickman
> > wrote:
>
> >On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 01:52:38 -0800, "Ted Mittelstaedt"
> > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
> . ..
> >>> On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 00:08:41 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:
> >>>
> >>> >Hi
> >>> >
> >>> >I started my car today and when I went to take off the car stopped
and
> >>> >battery light lit so I parked the car looked under the hood and saw
that
> >>the
> >>> >negative terminal had all this white foam around it and stains coming
> >>from
> >>> >negative to middle of the battery. So is it time for a new battery,
the
> >>> >battery is 3 years old.
> >>> >
> >>> >if I need a new battery what do I get like the, brand, CCA, Group
Size?
> >>and
> >>> >I have a 1997 ford Taurus.
> >>> >
> >>> >Thank You for your help.
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>> If you buy this at an auto shop, they will know what you need.
> >>> If you pick one up off the shelf at K Mart like I do, you look up in a
> >>> book what you need, a book they have over in the car battery
> >>> department that looks like a phone book.
> >>>
> >>> It will be big, heavy, and if you are a female, you will need a store
> >>> clerk to assist you, so let -them- look up the battery for you, and
> >>> then check to see if they have it in stock.
> >>>
> >>> If you are a male, you will take the battery at K Mart, install it,
> >>> and then bring the old one back to Customer Service for recycling and
> >>> your credit refund.
> >>>
> >>
> >>If you are a female and you have never done this before you will go to
Kmart
> >>and ask the auto parts department manager to assist you and he will get
you
> >>the right battery and probably some anticorrosion spray or washers, a
pair
> >>of vice grips and a wrench or two, followed by some instructions, which
you
> >>will then go home and follow and have a new battery in the vehicle.
> >>
> >>If you are male and you have never done this before you will go to Kmart
and
> >>look in the battery manual which you will misinterpret, buy your
battery,
> >>take
> >>it home, drink some beer, go to remove the old battery and find that a
bolt
> >>is
> >>corroded together, hunt around for the vice grips you know you have,
drink
> >>some
> >>more beer, go back to Kmart and buy vice grips, come back, drink some
more
> >>beer, proceed to break the clamp in half taking it off, swear and drink
> >>some more beer, go back to Kmart and buy a replacement clamp, come home
> >>drink some more beer, find you don't have a pair of shears that will cut
the
> >>old
> >>clamp off the end of the battery cable, swear some more, go back to
Kmart
> >>again and
> >>buy a battery cable, come back home and drink some more beer, remove the
> >>old battery and spill battery acid over the garage floor, swear some
more,
> >>take
> >>your wife's box of baking soda and pour it over the garage floor to
> >>neutralize
> >>the acid, drink some more beer, return the remainder of the box to the
> >>kitchen
> >>and track in baking soda mixture to the kitchen floor, come back out and
> >>discover
> >>the new battery won't fit, swear some more, drink some more beer, drive
back
> >>to Kmart and exchange the new battery for the correct one that fits,
come
> >>back,
> >>drink some more beer, install the new battery and yell at your wife to
get
> >>off
> >>your back when she yells that you said you were going to be done with
the
> >>car 2 hours ago. Then the next morning on your way to work stop at
Kmart
> >>and buy anticorrosion spray and stand in the Kmart parking lot with the
hood
> >>up
> >>spraying on anticorrosion to the battery terminals.
> >>
> >>:-)
> >>
> >>Ted
> >>
> >
> >I can see you've done this before ;0
> >
> >You left out the important part:
> >
> >a battery off the shelf needs to be charged before being placed into
> >service in the vehicle. Chances are it has -some- charge left over
> >from the factory, but it is certainly insufficient.
> >
> >So, my advice is to fully charge the thing before installing. Charge
> >it out of the vehicle, or in the vehicle with the cables, or at least
> >one cable disconnected. The idea is to keep from an overvoltage from
> >the charger that could potentially damage delicate computer
> >electronics.
> >
> >I am going to buy a knife switch today to put in series with one of my
> >terminals, probably the ground terminal, so when I charge the thing
> >I'm not connected to anything sensitive.
> >
> >I don't think it matters if b+ or neg is disconnected, just that the
> >vehicle system is taken out of parallel with the charger and battery.
> >
> >Lg
>
> I forgot to add:
>
> If/when you disconnect this cable, you will lose your computer-learned
> parameters for your engine, so in order to AVOID THIS, you just plug
> in a 12 volt gel cell into your cigarette lighter to keep the PCM
> "alive" while the main battery is taken out of the loop.
>
> This is done with a cigarette lighter plug into the cigarette lighter
> socket, and the ignition turned to acc ( accessories ). 12 volt gel
> cell will hold the memory a long long time while you charge the main
> battery.
>
> Now that is time to go to bed. A busy day today ;-()
>
> Lg
>

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 04:55:12 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:

>Hi
>
>Thanks for all the help. What I did was the next day the car was working
>fine, I took it to advance auto parts
>the guy said to clean the terminals, got a terminal cleaner and baking soda,
>parked the car, disconnected the negative terminal
>brushed the negative connector and terminal used a tooth brush to remove
>extra debris around the terminal,
>the positive looked fine so I didn't touch it I reconnected the negative,
>turned on the car and the car was still fine so I went to
>the home depot to get plumbing parts (that's another story :]), came home.
>The next day the car wouldn't start, called the
>tow service, while waiting for the tow I cleaned the terminals and tried to
>start it, after the fifth time the car started,
>I let it idle for a few minutes so the alternator can maybe charge it a
>little then started driving and then it was fine again, so I
>went to the auto service. they tested the battery and charged it. They told
>me the battery was fine, electrical system looks
>good, and the alt was fine, they think the alt is not charging the battery
>enough upon startup so that when I take off the car stops. so what
>they said to do is turn the car on and rev it a bit before driving. So I'm
>just going to keep driving it until another problem
>occurs and then replace the battery, if that doesn't work then the alt.
>
>Thanks for the feedback guys

FYI
Fully charged battery in perfect condition under no load = 12.6 volts
Alternator running, voltage across battery terminals = 14 volts

I would definitely put a FULL charge on that battery. Sulphiding of
the plates could and will occur otherwise, causing an unnecessary
premature demise of the poor creature.

Lg

Also,

The day I waited for the tow I took readings from the battery of:

10.75VDC Starting Car (Terminals connected)
12.24VDC Car Off (Terminals connected)
12.45VDC Car Off (Terminals NOT connected)
14.71VDC Car Running (Terminals connected)

Thanks.

"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 04:55:12 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:
>
> >Hi
> >
> >Thanks for all the help. What I did was the next day the car was working
> >fine, I took it to advance auto parts
> >the guy said to clean the terminals, got a terminal cleaner and baking
soda,
> >parked the car, disconnected the negative terminal
> >brushed the negative connector and terminal used a tooth brush to remove
> >extra debris around the terminal,
> >the positive looked fine so I didn't touch it I reconnected the negative,
> >turned on the car and the car was still fine so I went to
> >the home depot to get plumbing parts (that's another story :]), came
home.
> >The next day the car wouldn't start, called the
> >tow service, while waiting for the tow I cleaned the terminals and tried
to
> >start it, after the fifth time the car started,
> >I let it idle for a few minutes so the alternator can maybe charge it a
> >little then started driving and then it was fine again, so I
> >went to the auto service. they tested the battery and charged it. They
told
> >me the battery was fine, electrical system looks
> >good, and the alt was fine, they think the alt is not charging the
battery
> >enough upon startup so that when I take off the car stops. so what
> >they said to do is turn the car on and rev it a bit before driving. So
I'm
> >just going to keep driving it until another problem
> >occurs and then replace the battery, if that doesn't work then the alt.
> >
> >Thanks for the feedback guys
>
> FYI
> Fully charged battery in perfect condition under no load = 12.6 volts
> Alternator running, voltage across battery terminals = 14 volts
>
> I would definitely put a FULL charge on that battery. Sulphiding of
> the plates could and will occur otherwise, causing an unnecessary
> premature demise of the poor creature.
>
> Lg
>

On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 01:15:55 GMT, "js5895" > wrote:

>Also,
>
>The day I waited for the tow I took readings from the battery of:
>
>10.75VDC Starting Car (Terminals connected)
That's acceptable for a car battery under full load when starting a
vehicle, but just barely so. 10.4 or better is considered "Good"

>12.24VDC Car Off (Terminals connected)
I get 12.68

>12.45VDC Car Off (Terminals NOT connected)
I get 12.68

>14.71VDC Car Running (Terminals connected)
Charging system is OK

I don't really see anything that is out of specs here. You're allowed
up to 15 volts on the alternator ( you get 14.71 )

You're allowed down to 10.4 volts on the battery when it is under full
load when starting vehicle. ( you get 10.75 )

It is probably OK to go looking somewhere else for the source of your
problem. I think the electrical power supply department checks out
"Good."

This is a mystery to me, but I think you can say you do NOT have a
problem with your _battery_.

Lg