Need 6V battery ASAP...car show tomorrow morning

[Greg Spreeman]

Man, haven't done a car show in 2 years. Had the car running about a month ago and all seemed fine. Got in it today after shining it up and it won't crank. Tested the battery, Red Top Optima and it's only at 5.17V. Have had a charger on it for the last 2 hours and it's barely creeping up. Help! BTW, in South Orange, NJ. TIA

[Sebastian Gaeta]

Greg,

The battery charger you may be using isn't going to wake up that Optima, you need a pretty hefty commercial grade charger to do that.

Any good auto parts store will carry a lead acid 6 volt battery. If not you can get a tractor battery at a Tractor Supply that should work.

I love getting one at O'Reilly's Auto Parts, it is literally part #1 so that's easy to remember.

[Doug McDonnell]

Tractor Supply,NAPA, Interstate. Lots of sources.

[Geoff Fleming]

Greg,
I'd lend you mine but we are using the 356 tomorrow. I bought my 6v battery at the auto parts store off Vauxhall Rd and Springfield. They have them in stock. ( These are not the Optima but regular types.)

[Greg Spreeman]

Thanks Geoff. I think I got out of crisis mode. I looked through my stuff and found another 6V red top. First thing, I'll order another as back up. Now, back to polishing, cleaning, and a lil' pinot noir.

[Dan Kalinski]

Take a known good battery of like voltage and connect to the depleted Optima. Connect the battery charger to either battery and charge. Watch for over heating of either battery. Stop if this occurs. Once the depleted Optima reaches the minimum voltage to take a charge, you can charge that battery directly. Of course and always: + to + and - to -

[Adam Wright]

Sears also has 6V batteries in stock.

[Greg Spreeman]

Hey guys, I can't seem to start the car even though the battery shows about 5.9V. Will I really screw things up if I just drop in a fully charged 12V battery?

[David Jones]

Yes it will Greg though it will start the car but if you keep it running on the 12 volt battery stuff will fail. 5.9 volts under load would be good for a 6 volt battery but with no load it is not acceptable. You could use the 12 volt battery to jump start the car and then the 5.9 volts will keep it running and charge it as you drive. Get a helper and moments before you turn the key he can connect the final battery jumper lead and as soon as the car is running disconnect.

[Greg Spreeman]

Thanks David. That's the plan. I have a good 12V battery and will use it to start the car. But, after this show tomorrow, I need to send it to someone who can figure out my electrical gremlin. I've done everything imaginable but still, at times she just doesn't want to start. And, I'm saying that just after trying to start her with a fully charged 6V Optima with clean ground to the chassis and a clean positive. She just clicks but, that's it with my 6V. Really annoying.

[Bob Morris]

Not sure why people are concerned with a dead battery, these cars are the easiest to push start of all the cars I have owned. Just get it rolling about 5 MHP, jump in turn on the ignition switch, put the clutch in, put it in 4th and slowly release the clutch and away you go. Done it several times with a low battery that was failing and also when the starter wouldn't in gage, fixed that problem with a Joe Leoni relay in the late 90's. Am I wrong?

[Sebastian Gaeta]

Am I wrong?

You are certainly right about the ease of push starting one of these cars. The only thing that would hold us back is that many of our members are 70+ years old and that might not be an attractive solution. The other thing to contend with would be if the car were sitting for a long time, as in Greg‘s case, and the carburetor bowls were completely empty. That would be a lot of pushing!

[Jon Schmid]

Re: Push starting--I have had the best results using 2nd gear on flat ground and 3rd going downhill. And I'm not thirtysomething anymore.

[David Jones]

Greg, if it clicks but starter does not even sound as though it is turning you may have a bad solenoid. Try jumping at the starter direct from the main terminal to the solenoid. If it is a bad solenoid then it is an easy fix as there are lots of used 6 volt solenoids out there as the VW starter solenoid is exactly the same part.