Cobra4B

So my truck's original battery from 2004 has taken a shit in a most peculiar way. Here's the series of events... maybe someone can chime in and let me know if I have a more serous problem than an old battery.

Truck is a 2004 GMC Canyon with nearly 54,000 miles on it. The batter was the original GM unit, never touched.

The truck has a 7 pin wire (4 pin standard) to haul a car trailer and uses a brake controller. It's been in for over 2 years w/o an issue.

Towing the race car to NC on Friday I went through some serious rain... towed through 5" o standing water in some places.

Get car to Greensboro, NC w/o issue Friday evening. Go to start it today to come home and the truck won't start... it's not 100% dead, but won't start. So we use my dad's F-150 to jump it, then I drive it around for 5 minutes, then put it on the battery charger for awhile while I packed up the head back here.

I drive back here non-stop... start smelling wierd odor arond Franklin but don't think anything of it because it's Franklin, then afterwards everytime I slowed down I'd smell a "Franklin" smell... was confused, but kept going. Pick my GF up w/o turning off truck and go to dinner. Leaving dinner car won't start at all, clicks, but not dead, but this time clock reset to 12, earlier it didn't. Have buddy from restaurant jump me.

I drive truck home and go to pull the battery out of my Corvette so I can get a new battery tomorrow. I figure after 5 years the stock battery is just toast and it randomly decided to take a dump between Friday/Sunday.

But... when I get under the hood I smell the "franklin" smell coming from the battery box. Get to the battery and it's swollen looking like it wants to burst. I carefully take it out and set in on the ground and I can hear it sizzling. I swapped in my Red Top fom the Corvette and verified all was working.

So... I'd think I have an old battery that gave up the ghost, but what would cause the thing to swell up and get hot while driving home? Reading around on google it says that's a symptom of overcharging... so I'm worried I have an alternator problem, or that my trailer somehow cooked the battery.

Or... is all of this a potential symptom of trying to charge a battery that's failed?


Thanks,
Brian

nftuatn

voltage regulator could have died and its charging the fizuck out of the battery...like 17 volts...that will make it do that very quickly

Cobra4B

Will a place like Advanced test alternator output? My truck's gauge cluster doesn't show me voltage.

nftuatn

yes they should be able to....you dont have a volt meter ???

Thurm@n

I lol'd at "Franklin" smell. That smell makes my stomach hurts whenever I come thru there.

Cobra4B

Nope... one of the things I don't have.

streetlamp

If you dont have one then I would borrow a voltmeter to test what the alternator is outputting before you swell up your corvettes battery too.

nftuatn

exactly...unless the alt on the canyon is easy as hell to remove...then take it out and take it up there...or unless advance is right up the street...like a few blocks...

Cobra4B

It's right up the street... I just checked... my truck has a battery idiot light on the dash. Owner's manual states if it comes on and stays on it's telling me there's a problem w/ the charging system. Would that apply to a busted voltage regulator, or just a dead/dying alternator? Light is not on and never has been.

Could this have been caused by putting a battery charger on a dead battery? I didn't smell anything on Friday night or today, until I got past Franklin on the way home, which I think means something we did to it cooked it. If it had gotten cooked driving down to NC on Friday night it'd have been stinking then.

Maybe my dad put the battery charger on incorrectly and juiced it somehow? Or, could trying to quick charge and old/dead battery do it?

nftuatn

well a quick charge is usually 200 amps...which will make a battery sizzle and explode....

as well will a bad voltage ragulator...does the same thing....

im sure its you alt...they have a built in voltage regulator and its probably fried....

just get it checked...