My sister had a car that she barely used. It went from bad battery, to bad alternator, to bad battery, to bad alternator. Over the course of about two years.

Finally I said drive the car regularly, sell it or leave it on a battery tender.

Charging a bad/dead battery puts a lot of stain on a charging system. Do that enough times and eventually something gives up.

Then you replace the battery and wonder why it won't charge cause now the charging system is now bad. So now the new battery gets drained to nothing. Which starts to damage the battery. Rinse and repeat.

Thanks for the info, the pictures are really helpful.

I'll pass it along to my mechanic.

That's what I figured (about the lack of mention in the book). It seemed like the "nut" for the tube was some sort of flared fitting that would do the sealing. There's a gasket listed for the senior cars - maybe that's what they're referencing?

Probably because no one makes 5/8 ID washers anymore and they sent you 3/4 ID.

Doubt it will ever make a difference as long as they're torqued to spec and somewhat centered.

Jimmy, how old is your battery actually? Is it NEW or are you still using the one in the car when you bought it?

An old battery can start an engine when charged, but then not run said engine for very long without being continuously charged. Ask me how I know...

Battery drain test: you already said the clock is disconnected. Good. Close the doors so the dome light is off and make sure the ignition/accessories are off. When it's dark, disconnect and reconnect one of the battery terminals. You should not see/hear ANY spark. If there's a spark, you have some phantom drain.

If you have a trunk light, have you checked that it's not stuck on? That's about all I can think of that wouldn't be caused by mis-wiring or a short somewhere.

If it's not called out in the parts book then no.

It's worth noting, I'm not sure if they even had O rings back then that would withstand 300 degree oil.

OK perfect. What about between the tube nut and where it connects to the oil pump?

No o rings are present between the pickup tube strainer.

Hey all. '50 model 2302 with a 327 here. Looking for confirmation on this - should there be o-rings where the tube connects to the oil pump and strainer? There's no mention of it in the parts book relative to group 5.1305, and some threads here on the pickup tube don't seem to mention them. However, it was mentioned in a couple social media sources, so I'm looking for that confirmation. I've got the pan down right now, so I figured this would be a good time to add them if they're needed. Thanks!

Best guess is that your timing is vastly advanced. You will need to check it with a timing light.