What stinks... Ohhh thats just my trunk..

[joshuagore]

Ok so this past weekend my wife and I while we were away in the Fiat for our anniversary noticed a horrid smell. It seemed to be not long after I torqued down the screws for the studs on the battery.

After a day or 2 of putrid smell I decided to poke around, but didn't notice anything funny in the trunk, that was until this morning. I figured I needed to inspect the car when it was hot, and popped the trunk right after a long commute. I noticed the battery was puffing large amounts of white smoke from left and right ports.

Smells like eggs, I smell like eggs. The car smells like eggs.

Josh

[So Cal Mark]

too much junk in the trunk? Boiling batteries usually indicate overcharging. Make sure the battery has enough water in it after you test the charging system

[joshuagore]

We have some sort of electrical tester here at work which I will test the circuit with.... What is the proper voltage? 14.4 I assume?

If I am overcharging I will order up a regulator.

Josh

[Danno]

at first read of the title I thought this would be a bad Casey Anthony reference....

[mbouse]

With some cheese and maybe some ham you could make an omelette, no?

oh, wait.. that is French.

how about a Frittata? throw in a little cheese and some leftover pasta... mmm.

are you sure you did not crack the plastic battery housing when you torqued down the cabe clamps?

[racydave]

These fumes are explosive, caution! Avoid sparks...

[majicwrench]

A battery that is gassing and stinking is a SCARY DANGEROUS BAD BATTERY!!!!! Get rid of that sucker, and wear goggles and gloves when you do it. Clean everything up good, put in new battery, then check charging system. Yes, with car running, most things off, should be around 14 volts. Rev it up, should stay tween 14 and 15 volts. Turn lights and fan on, atl idle likely will drop to 13.5 or so, now rev car again, volt should go up as car revs, but still should stay under 15 volts.
AGAIN GET RID OF THAT BATTERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keith

[joshuagore]

A battery that is gassing and stinking is a SCARY DANGEROUS BAD BATTERY!!!!! Get rid of that sucker, and wear goggles and gloves when you do it. Clean everything up good, put in new battery, then check charging system. Yes, with car running, most things off, should be around 14 volts. Rev it up, should stay tween 14 and 15 volts. Turn lights and fan on, atl idle likely will drop to 13.5 or so, now rev car again, volt should go up as car revs, but still should stay under 15 volts.
AGAIN GET RID OF THAT BATTERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keith

Done, and done. Charging circuit is bad, but not after a long ride home.

So here is how the story goes....

After inspecting the sealed battery I did confirm that it was infact toast. It looked to be stressed in that the plastic was bulging. I checked the charging circuit and it seemed to be overcharging.... ordered a voltage regulator, but the car had to get home.

I was about to leave for work, and as I should have assumed the battery was dead. Incase you guys were wondering It was earlier that same day when I was on the way to work that the battery showed its last signs of life, incase anyone thought I was driving it for days.
So i push started the car and headed out. The trip started with a wonderful fix it ticket for no front plate about a block from work. As I was driving away from the officer the car hesitated as thought it was out of fuel. I knew I was low and nursed it to the gas station where I filled up and continued on my journey.
I have a 50 mile commute, which was then interrupted by a stop every 10-15 miles until I found an auto parts store. The stop consisted of car shutting down and the car coasting to a stop not running under load but holding an idle for awhile then dying. I pushed it, started right up, and finally made it to the auto parts store. I went inside and bought a battery, knowing that it could get toasted but my commute was almost over and needed to get the car home.
I found out the car had a smaller battery than stock, and I carefully removed the now 'cooled' bad battery and replaced it for the good new battery.
Car started up just great and I went on my way. About a 1/2 mile down the road I was notified by a helpful motorcyclist that I had one brake light, and no tail lights. I pulled over in a well light parking lot and checked the fuses.... All good. When the flasher wasn't working I knew it had to be a break in the line, I checked the bulbs almost all burnt out. Further proof that my voltage reg was bad.

I salvaged 2 good bulbs from the reverse lights and limped to the store and got new bulbs. Lets hope that voltage reg gets here soon

Josh

[baltobernie]

I got a name for your car; Luke.

[joshuagore]

I got a name for your car; Luke.

LOL!!!! I don't normally have car names, but I might start now.

Josh

[mbouse]

i give. Luke?

[Danno]

i give. Luke?

over my head, too.

I'm trying to make these work somehow....Luke Skywalker; Cool Hand Luke; Luke Warm; Bible's Luke; Luke mom, no hands; Luke Perry (90210s Dylan); Luke from Duke's of Hazard....nothing makes sense.

[mbouse]

wasn't it Cool Hand Luke that ate the eggs?

[Danno]

wasn't it Cool Hand Luke that ate the eggs?

Yeah, good call, and as another relevant sidenote, that was Paul Newman, too...

[Danno]

So, is that it? did these two half-wits come together to make a Whole-wit?