Adding Water to Maintenance Free OEM Battery

Eldo wrote:

That sounds like another cheap and easy mod, and IIRC you've already replaced your battery, right Rick?

Just to play devil's advocate, Kyle's complaints are typically indicative of a low battery or a low-output alternator. I certainly know that GM makes mistakes, but technically speaking, a 5' long, 8AWG wire can carry 100 amps - and 100 amps is mostly the max of what I'd expect out of a 140 amp alternator... It might make 140 amps if it's cold, and the engine is spinning 4 grand, but at a hot 2,000RPM cruise (or all that stop & go idling around town) it's not gonna' put out as much current.

On my '97, both the new battery and the refilled OEM battery had very little voltage drop at idle. As far as I know, I have the original alternator, so the stock setup seems enough to handle all the original options. The other day I noticed the scanner readout at hot idle was 13.9 to 14 volts.

I'd top off my battery if it was more than 6-8 years old, and then I'd check the voltage at the alternator terminal itself, and at the jump-start terminal, to see if I was losing anything to that charging wire...

I do not know if the previous owner had replaced the Battery or not. I haven't.
My system was acting as though I had an Alternator or Battery issue also.
Those issues have gone away with adding the #4 cable, I piggy backed the existing #8 cable from the alternator output to the terminal block. Clean all other connections that I had access to and no more fluctuating HVAC fan motor speed, no more frequency changes of the turn signals with changing RPM's, no more RPM drop (when applying a heavy load) when I have the seat heater on with the rear defrost and trying to open a window or whatever. As I mentioned all that is left to do is to put the resistor in the thermistor line at the alternator and I'll be up to 14.4 volt at idle.
So for about $12.00 total and a little time I believe I will have corrected a deficiency from the factory and will be able to comfortably add some amplifiers soon.

BTW, a <5 foot long #8 cable at 12 volts can handle 0-60 amp load according to my charts.
#6 = 60-100 amps
#4 = 100-150 amps, and so on.

Did you find your date code AA?

It says 1997 GM Corp right on top.

Aaron, what are the six tubes on the bottom of the 'lid'?

I'm not sure, but they might have been for alignment during assembly. They seemed to nearly fit the holes exactly. Doesn't explain why they go so deep into the holes, though.

AA wrote:

I'm not sure, but they might have been for alignment during assembly. They seemed to nearly fit the holes exactly. Doesn't explain why they go so deep into the holes, though.

Probably to guide condensate back into the cells. That is when the battery operates and gets warm some water will evaporte from cells. One way to manage condensate return would be to put those things into the holes. Vapor would condense on the lid (that you pried loose) and drip back into battery cells rather than just sitting on the tray around the cells.

By the way you might consider epoxying or otherwise cementing that cover back on the battery to help manage vapors and condensate. b

Albertj

Quote :

By the way you might consider epoxying or otherwise cementing that cover back on the battery to help manage vapors and condensate.

I considered attempting this, but the pattern is very intricate, and I was afraid some of the adhesive might squeeze out, blocking the tiny passageways that let gases escape. Also was worried if some were to fall into the electrolyte, it would contaminate the cell, causing it to fail.

Wrapping it tightly with tape was the best thing I could think to do. The battery should still function with a less than perfect seal, and I still have pretty good seal, just not airtight. There are only two small areas (near the vent tubes), where electrolyte can escape. I'll check these in a week or so to see if anything has worked it's way out, or if tape is peeling up.

I wouldn't put that battery back in. Esp with a new battery already on hand.

Rickw wrote:

Get approximately 4 feet of #4 battery cable and one 5/16" terminal end and one 3/8" terminal end.
The 3/8" goes to the under-hood connector and the 5/16" goes to the output stud on the back of the alternator................

He let me take the box of 50 ft of cable out to the car and I ran the cable parallel with the existing wire that comes off the back of the alternator, over the SC and around to the terminal block that feeds the battery and starter.....

I'm looking at a fairly inexpensive custom-made cable for this. However, I'm also contemplating just running it more or less directly across to the underhood connector instead of parallel to the stock one. If there's a good route to take it might be shorter than having to run 4'.


Any reason to use HD ring terminals in this application instead of standard duty parts?

A couple things:

AA wrote:

It says 1997 GM Corp right on top.

That's not a production date code. The date codes are rather cryptic and would be stamped in the case somewhere, generally hard to read. 1997 is probably when that battery was designed, not produced.

The label is "AC Delco". My replacement battery had the same label, but my OEM battery that I replaced did not. The OEM battery had a very different looking label on it. My guess is that your battery was replaced before you bought your car. Keep in mind, back then AC Delco was the only 'aftermarket' supplier for these vented batteries.

I'm guessing your battery was replaced, and finding the real date code will tell us for certain.

You may be onto something, Derek. I can't rule it out of possibility, but do batteries like ours usually fail after only 5 years and 24k miles?

Where exactly is the date code?

I'm having trouble finding any pictures of battery date codes, but they are usually 'melted' into the plastic with the same style numbers used in stamping steel. Usually on the sides, near the bottom of the battery. I have a few batteries in my garage, I'll see if I can take a picture of the date code. They may be very hard to see in a picture, because there's no color to them at all.

AA wrote:

do batteries like ours usually fail after only 5 years and 24k miles?

It's certainly possible, and I have known dealerships to replace batteries anytime an alternator is replaced, or even if somebody left the lights on and drained a battery completely. It takes too long to recharge, and if it were drained totally it may not take a proper charge, so replacement is often the answer from dealerships. Although considering the only battery supplier at the time was AC Delco, it could have been anyone that replaced the battery.

My alternator failed at under 30k miles, and I'm fairly certain they did not replace the battery then. One way I could check this would be to run the VIN at the dealership. They should have a record of any such swap, I would think.

ahhh I would expect alternator and battery to go hand in hand - usually when the alternator goes, the battery was completely drained and gets replaced at the same time. It's certainly possible.

Not saying that I would have done it this way either. And sometimes a bad alternator can result in a later battery replacement because of the full drain that took place. Sometimes the batteries are 'quick charged' with a large high-amp charger that only shops have (~200 amp) after being drained, which can warp plates and shorten a batteries life.

I took mine in with a mechanically failing alternator. It was functioning perfectly, but running a bit little warm, and made a whining sound. It was replaced under warranty. I don't understand why they would have replaced the battery with absolutely no electrical problem. The car started and ran flawlessly.

This was the same dealership that decided they could salvage my serp belt after an idler pulley fragged during driving.

Anyone know where to look for that date code?

Oh, I didn't know you had the car that early in it's life. So how old was the car when you bought it, and how many miles were on it? (I'm really grasping at straws here, but I still don't think that is an OE battery) Maybe lack of use caused the battery to need replacement?

I purchased the car in June '03 with 24.5k miles, in Toledo, OH. I may need to do some research, but I seem to remember it was originally a TX car. It was immaculate and totally original down to the pinstripes, so it would surprise me if the battery had been replaced.

But I certainly can't rule out the possibility, I agree.

AA wrote:

Anyone know where to look for that date code?

Rick wrote in the Replacement Battery thread:

Quote :

The following was pulled from the AC Delco Battery site:

The warranty date code is located on the top label of the battery.
The first character is either a P or S. The next two digits determine
the month, the third digit is year and the fourth digit indicates the
manufacturing plant.

For example, the battery I bought late last May was freshly squeezed the month before: P049R

What are the numbers and letters in the photo above.
They don't seem to be the Date Code.? (A9C6R)

Never mind, I was looking at the numbers and letters that are etched into the battery case.
I now notice the inked numbers on the label itself. DUH.

Something I've always had a habit of doing to all my batteries, be it car or motorcycle, is to use an electric vibro-etch tool to etch the date of install and where I bought the battery right on the top of the battery case.
This helps in case of premature failure, especially on the bike batteries, which suffer from that problem more than a car battery.
Not really necessary with the Riv as the battery isn't exposed to the elements and therefore the sticker they put on the top of the battery doesn't deteriorate.

I'll have to check my date code the next time I have the rear seat up. It's been quite a while, I'm way overdue for an under seat / battery inspection.

Another thought AA - I hear that heat kills batteries moreso than cold. Perhaps the Texas heat did it in.

Agreed, it could have been replaced before I got the car, being from the south. I've read batteries from FL can last about 3 years.

I've also found that Delco used to code the date differently than they do now. It wasn't on the label, but melted into the top of the case, with the first number being the year, followed by a letter representing the month. So a code starting out "9C" would be from March of 1999.

I'll have to pull up the seat and see what mine says. I can tell from the pictures there is no date code printed on any of the labels.

So, Aaron, are you still running the Delco?

Nope. I swapped it out April of last year for an Optima when my alternator decided to throw 17+ volts into the system when the regulator stopped working. In addition, my taped-closed battery was leaking electrolyte, but I do not think it caused the regulator to fail. I would not consider it strong, but that battery started the car up to the very end.

I figured it was a good time to upgrade.

Full story is here: https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t7112-alternator-failure-voltage-spike

For the heck of it I decided to pull out my 76month 7 year AC Delco battery from my '96. I have owned the car since July of '03 and I have put 105K on it. I put the battery on the bench, raised one end about two inches and pushed a piece of hose over the vent and began filling it with a big syringe. It took 12.5 oz before it was full. Washed it down in the driveway and stuck it back in. Not sure how to read the date code on the battery but it is at least 8 years old and going strong. I think I caught it in time because that seems to be quite a bit of distilled water to have to add. Anyway, just giving everyone a heads up if you were thinking of doing this I say go for it.

Paul