Re: Joe's '49 Club Sedan

Posted by Brian Wilson On 2020/8/7 21:40:12

Yes, a lot of people say they have had good service from Optima 12V batteries.

For some reason, they don't seem to like race cars. Might be heat or vibration, as you suggest. But when they fail, it seems to happen without warning. I guess a load tester would be good for diagnostics generally, but would just deliver the bad news in that situation. An ordinary old voltmeter will do the same thing (ask me how I know). One of my most stressful drives was about 140 miles from a racetrack back to my workshop in a Porsche Carrera race car with the alternator not working and a Chinese wet cell battery fitted (only thing I could find on a Sunday). Made it back with 5.7V showing on the meter. The Optima battery had given up sometime earlier and the alternator had subsequently died. Later investigation showed the battery was shorted internally - most likely a loose plate.

Sounds like you're well on top of this one, though.

Brian