Battery Boiling???

[keiken01]

On my '68 302 Mustang, I noticed that after turning off the motor I heard what sounded like boiling/bubbling coming from my battery. The battery is brand new Everstart MAXX 35-N.

I also noticed that it looked like the battery fluid had spilled over and the air flowing under the hood while driving left a battery fluid trail from front to back as you'd expect if there were a leak.

The battery is tight in it's place and I had to press the caps back down, but there were tight when the new battery was installed.

So what's the deal? Bad alternator?

[dawg]

could be or a bad short somewhere.
but I would have the battery checked cuz the internal plates could be shorted out.
just because a part is new doesnt mean its good btw.

[justen]

sounds like your voltage regulator isn't shutting off after the battery is fully charged.

[keiken01]

I checked the battery and it holds a charge just fine 12.8v.
The regulater looks about as old as the car. Is there a way to test it? If not, it's only about $15 for a new one vs blowing the battery... this could've been what took out the previous one.

[justen]

Well once the battery is charged, even with the engine running the voltage should drop some, Especially if the engine is running, and nothing is on like headlights or radio. If the voltage from the alternator doesn't dropping some. It could very well be the voltage regulator.

Some places, or I should say auto parts stores can test just the voltage regulator. 15 bucks is cheaper then another new battery.

I myself buy the cheap Everstart from walmart, and I have to say, for a cheap battery they are good. Although if I leave it sit for a longtime like in the car, I will hook up a battery tender. So nothing wrong with that battery for what you pay for it.

[keiken01]

I replaced the voltage regulator and haven't noticed the problem again.

Now I need to clean the area up from the acid to repaint.

Thanks!

[Mustang65HiPo]

Just after I completed painting, detailing and putting the fresh rebuilt engine in my 65 Mustang, my battery did the same thing. Killed lots of paint and work. I was not a happy camper. It was the regulator as mentioned above. I replaced it and installed a gell bettery and have not had any problems since. Re-painting the engine bay wasn't fun

[keiken01]

Yeah it's a definite bummer. I bought a battery mat and cut a piece to sit over the battery cap so that if it happens again it won't spray everything. The gell battery sounds like the best solution, though.