Electrical Help needed

Rick Franklin

PCS Member
went out to my 1965 International Travelall Ambulance this morning & discovered a dead battery. Its been 2 weeks since Ive driven it. Hooked up my portable jump box & it started. Let it warm up and started driving it when i noticed the amp guage pegged on charge. got to the car show, the truck sat for a few hours & it did restart. Amp guage still reading on the high side. Ive got the battery out and on the charger overnight. I'll have it tested tomorrow since its 5 years old. My gut feeling regarding the amp guage is that the voltage regulator is going bad. Should I just replace it or is there a diagnostic test to tell for sure? its a 1965 with the 304cid V8
 
Your battery is going bad. If you are charging it on a regular garage-type charger, it might be too powerful for the battery and overheat the plates and warp them. I now use a Genius 3500 charger for overnight charging because it will pulse the battery and slowly charge it without overheating the plates. I have brought back some old batteries using that charger. I wouldn't replace anything until it is verified as being defective.
 
See what it does with a ful! Charged battery. I would have the battery load tested also before swapping parts. The points could have stuck in the regualater. That would lock it to full charge and could have wiped out the battery. Or the battery could have a bad cell which could create a demand.
 
I know that you don't have the heat that we do, but 5 years is a long life for a 12 volt. On 6 volt batteries, I feel lucky to get 2 years.
When my 6 volts are at age, my 49 does the same thing with the guage
 
After having the battery on the trickle charger overnight, I took it in to my local NAPA store to get checked. Battery had a dead cell so I bought a new one. While I was there, I also picked up a voltage regulator. Installed the new battery when I got home; the truck fired right up and the amp guage was still reading high. Installed the new regulator, and the guage is now reading in its proper zone. Mission accomplished!
 
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