Thread: Alternator and Battery

I have an issue with starting the car and looks like it happens after a long drive like 50km or so.

I notice that after a long drive and when I have issue starting the car there are white dust in one of the terminal on the battery.

Questions: is it the battery needs to be replaced or the alternator keep charging the battery even its already full thus creating the white dust.

Thanks. Gus.

Originally Posted by drivesafe

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A 50kms drive is actually a moderate drive but during shorter drives, your battery will be cold and can tolerate higher voltages.

Driving for 50kms will allow the battery to get up towards normal engine bay temperatures and this is where higher voltages can cause the battery to gas.

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I think it's going to be a relative thing ...

I drive 35klms to work and it takes 30mins .. 40 max!
I drive 20klms to sisters house, but it takes 60mins on a goodday, 75ish on a typical day .. I turn around on a bad day!

I had an old P6 V8 where the regulator got stuck at 1million volts or whatever.
Drove 3+ hrs at least(maybe more) .. but had no idea.

Cooked the battery really well all those additional volts(but those old Marhalls are like Lazarus).
Car smelled badly, almost diesel like.
Problem was that we'd be out hunting, and got a fox, chucked it in the boot in a bag, and headed home.
so of course we assumed the the smell was the fox, but it turned out to be the boiled battery. Battery in the boot on the P6V8's, can't remember if they also have them in the 2000's I also had.

I had trouble starting, took it to my dads mate, the auto elec, he checked stuff(I was too young and stupid to watch and learn), but I do remember he told me to watch the battery afterwards, and how to top it up with water.
I know he said the regulator was crook..

Regulators fail in strange ways too.
An old SD-1 rover V8 I had had a strange one while I was 3 hrs from home (again)!
Damned thing stopped charging at higher speeds(ie. above idle). So battery was depleting whilst I was driving along.
Eventually worked out that if I sat for about 30mins idling, it'd slowly come good. So I could drive for about an hour, then sit somewhere off the road for 30mins.
3 hr drive back from Grampians took about 6hrs.

At about 1AM, was about 1klm from home and car started to cut out(battery again) and I had the option of stopping again for a few mins, or .. race up the hill and then coast down the hill.
being closer to 20yo back then, of course option 2 felt to be the best at the time .. so I also turned off the headlights too, keeping the parkers on tho.
Of course Mr Plod was out on his donut run!
Pulled me up to book me for no lights, and I explained the story.
Showed him my ID to prove I lived literally 100m away .. and hence why I was driving with no lights.
And I showed him with the lights on, at idle they were bright and fine, but even with a bit over 1K RPM they'd dim badly.
I convinced him I'm not your typical burnout hoon .. (driving an crappy old SD1!! ... I'd been the laughing stock of the HZ/XC V8 hoon world back then!) .. and he let me off this time.

So like drivesafe said .. check your voltages.
And as it's yet to be determined what battery type, if it's not fully sealed, and has a way to access the acid level.. best to check that too.
if it's low, probably boiling/boiled away, which means over voltage as said.