What battery to run

[boxboy]

My 75 month battery is on its 85th month. Curious to know what battery you guys are running that is close to the original size. My battery is not original, but it also no longer has any part numbers visible. I am assuming that any battery that fits will work considering spec is around 290 cold cranking amps!

[banzai510(hainz)]

always buy close to same size But more you pay the better the battery. More cranking amps means the better the plates.

However a good alternator and esp the voltage reg in working oder helps from ruiing a battery also.

Run a cheap volt gauge or a cig lighter volt gauge to see if any proplems rise up before it ruins a battery.

 

I think Red Top batteries sucks Just forgot the brand but you knwo what I mean.

 

 

Just my opinio here

[ggzilla]

I've been using Sears Group 26 for the past 10 years. Great batteries, low-price. They have more CCA than the original spec 520/521 battery. They are very small, so if you want an exact fit, get a larger more expensive battery.

 

I use them in both my Datsuns, including the high-compression one, and in my Ford V6 pickup. Plenty of power and they last. Only $50. Lightweight = better fuel economy + more effective power (lb/hp).

 

[68Datsun510]

Optima gets my vote, 880cca lol!

[Tristin]

In regards to the Optimas... Red Tops seem to blow, but Ive never had any issues with Yellow Tops. I havent been int he market for a battery for awhile, so Im not sure whats the new hotness out there though.

[metalmonkey47]

24 series was stock for all Datsuns IIRC. Their price/rating makes them a good choice. They're a little larger then some, but they yield a very decent bit of power for the price. Although like GGzilla said, 26 series is a pretty good choice.

 

If you're going for lightweight, 51/51R series is where to look. If you want power, go Optima Yellow.

 

 

Autozone's Duralast batteries are some of the most popular lead/acid battery on the market and have a good life span if you take care of them.

You can even buy a Duralast AGM battery with a similar design to Optima's for a fraction of the cost. Usually about $134 vs. $209 for the comparable Optima.

[boxboy]

Maybe I should have said this, but I am not looking for the latest and greatest. Just a decent option that fits. I am running stock J13 so I don't need a ton of cranking amps. Thanks all for the input.

[68Datsun510]

Lawn tractor battery :P

 

J/k

[metalmonkey47]

Lawn tractor battery :P

 

J/k

 

It's been done and it works! Doesn't take much to turn over a Datsun. lol

 

Maybe I should have said this, but I am not looking for the latest and greatest. Just a decent option that fits. I am running stock J13 so I don't need a ton of cranking amps. Thanks all for the input.

 

Go for a standard cheap 26 series battery. Just don't buy it from Autozone. Go to sears.

[izzo]

Running a yellowtop, its been in three vehicles so far. Its about a year old. No issues so far.

[thatguy]

Costco sells batteries. They are very good.

[thisismatt]

I think I have to join the bandwagon that newer optima red tops suck. I have one from around 2001 that is still working great, but I had to replace the maybe 3 year old one I had in my 521 a couple weeks ago since the voltage would drop away right after coming off a charger even. I replaced it with a sealed AGM battery from Oreilley's for about $162 after tax. It's a group 34/78 with 3 year free replacement and up to 84 month pro-rated warranty.

[boxboy]

New battery is in. I got one at BiMart, because I needed to use the truck pretty bad. They are Exide I believe sold under BiMart's name. Anyway, now I have a bigger problem. Truck ran fine for 2 days. I tested the battery when i got it with my new cheepo Harbor Freight multimeter. Just over 12 volts with the truck off, and up to about 13 with it running at 2000 rpm. Ran my truck on about a 7 mile round trip and parked it for the night. Went to start it 2 days later to do some yard work and it would barely turn the starter and then nothing. So, multimeter check again and it is down to 11.45 now, but won't start the rig. I have now idea where to begin looking for the power drain since I have no experience with electrical stuff. Can anyone help me as to where to begin? Thanks in advance!

[banzai510(hainz)]

BOXBOY

charge the battery again fully.

then start the truck. Using hopefully a Digital volt meter youll see about 13.5 volts or higher with everthing off. Now if you put the lights On and maybe the heater on ow it will drop. but rev motor up to say 2k rpm. If the volts are say below 12.5 your running the battery down cuase the alternator is weak.

 

to ck for a battery drain. get a test light for 5$. take the minus side off. Now put the test light in between the battery post and the cable end you just to off to complete the circut. if light is ON its draining. If not then its OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B__DqK90IIc

 

 

also put the volt meter on +batt post then to the battery end cable. put key to on. If theres a voltage drop of 2 volts right at the battery post ans cable then there is corrission you need to clean or the bat cable is bad. or battery ground. ck this as its FREE. This recently happen to me. Battery good at post but to batter cable is was 1.5 to 2volts lower.

[ggzilla]

13 volts is not enough to keep a lead-acid battery charged. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with your old battery, but the problem has been the charging system?

[DAT510]

lol that guy is insane

[boxboy]

thanks guys. I'll get on the tests tomorrow if I get a chance. I am guessing I would have to have the alt. rebuilt as they are NLA. But, I am also assuming that buying a new one would be cheeper if I could figure out how to mount and wire it up correctly. I guess I will worry about that when I get to it. Thanks again.

[ggzilla]

It's probably not the alternator. Test it. You may find it's the voltage regulator OR a wiring problem.

 

Autozone sells the 1968 alternators.

[boxboy]

Tests are done. After I charged the battery, ignition off I had 12.66 V. At idle, this bumped up to 12.77 V and under load went down to 12.3 V. At 2.5K rpms I was producing 14.52 V with no load and 12.70 V loaded (high beams, Fan on high and wipers). To me that all seemed reasonable, and I am sure someone will tell me if it ain't.

 

Then I pulled the neg. batt. cable and did an amp test with the ing. off. I had a drain of 1.35 amps. I systematically pulled each fuse and tested the amps and nothing changed. I still had 1.35 amp drain. I went through and check grounds and other connections. I happened to have replaced the 4 prong connector from the alt. a while back with new spades and all. I fiddle with that and bingo, 0.00 amp drain! When I fiddled I apparently broke all together the Black wire with white tracer that is part of that connector. I have looked at the diagram I have and I don't know what that wire does, but it looks like it goes to the regulator. Anyone know? I suppose I find some black 16 gauge wire and splice a new piece on and re-do my connector. Any other words of wisdom?

[ggzilla]

Good detective work.

 

The four-wire connector is:

B - to B wire of regulator

W - to W wire of regulator

Y - to Y wire of regulator

WB - to WB wire of regulator

[boxboy]

Something is not right! I put some new connectors on the alternator leads with great care, plugged it back in and with the key off, I had my drain again. Apparently my previous wiggling broke clear through the previous connections and that is why my drain went to zero. I am pretty certain that I got the wires back in the correct slots, but now if I start the truck, I get a charge at idle of 13.5 V and if I run up the rpms I hit 15.5 or 16 V! I didn't let that go on for more than a few seconds. Might have I damaged anything?

 

So my question is, does this mean the regulator is bad, or is it possible I got the leads hooked up wrong? The colors on the harness side of the connector are indistinguishable. I can tell one is black and then I have three that are various shades of off white and I can see no tracers. The colors out of my alternator are black with white tracer, off white, white with green and white with red, so you see I can't be for certain that they are correct as they don't seem to correspond. If it is the regulator, will my local parts store have one? The one that I have looks reasonably new.

 

Thanks in advance.

[thisismatt]

A few seconds/minutes won't hurt, but any extended period of time will boil your battery and kill it.

[uieluck]

I usta blow my wad on those Optima batteries. They're good, but I think Interstate's are pretty wad blowing friendly too! :•) I run a Interstate in my Ep3 and 620,,, obviously not the same one. :P

[boxboy]

I did some investigating. From the alternator side, the black and Yellow wire are from the brushes. The White with Red goes to the BATT post on the alt. and the white with green goes to I think the field coil. So, I am guessing I had everything screwed up somehow, but I swear that is the way I took it apart. Anyway I need someone to tell me which wire goes with the WB wire on the harness. Is it the BATT wire or the field coil wire?

[ggzilla]

Didn't you see my wire color post before about three posts back?