TT + summer heat = Boiling Battery?

So after a bit of driving in this damn heat, I had to swap batteries with a family member as his had karked it... but I noticed it was bloody hot (too hot to touch) and I could hear it actually boiling. So I've topped up the water, but i noticed the 1st cell (turbo side) was significantly lower than the rest.
Being curious I got my laser thermometer out and turbo was 250 deg C even after it had been sitting for about 10 minutes.

I'm not even sure if I have all of the exhaust heat shields in place... so I was wondering if this is a common problem? Should I consider relocating the battery? I plan on maybe doing an engine pull over christmas... so I guess I should go nuts with the heat wrap? Or would it be better to fabricate something?

Cheers.

 

Anyone know of any good temporary substitutes for heat shielding for around the manifold flange? An aluminium baking tray? haha

 

Any metal sheet you can convince to stay where you want it will help cut the radiant heat. Multiple layers with an air gap between them will be better.
Getting it in there will be the hard part.

 

250 deg C

Isn't anything to be concerned about when you consider a turbo can glow red hot.
As the body is cast iron, it retains heat.
The Z32 came from the factory with a battery cover/insulator installed on both NA & TT variants.
It is not unusual to discover the electrolyte to be lower in one cell compared to the others.
Low electrolyte levels usually indicate poor battery maintenance, or there could be a problem such as the alternator overcharging, or the battery is leaking.
A leaking battery can be readily identified by the paint deterioration & rust due to exposure to the electrolyte.

 

battery condition has been pretty good. never struggles to crank and always startes first go. i had the battery on trickle charge over night after I topped it up. the levels weren't very low as plates weren't exposed... But it was definitely a temperature issue as it was boiling hot.

Battery quality/condition/age/physical damage I don't really think is an issue. It's a Century "Hi Performance" type (wasn't cheap either). Its about 2 years old, plastic is in great shape. Not leaking or overflowing. Has always been bolted down and I've never ever let it go flat, freeze or sulphate. Trickle charged at least every 6 months too. This arvo I checked alternator charging voltage: 13.7v... so not as high as 14.7 or 16v so I'm guessing the reg/rec is ok and isn't over charging... unless the battery is on its last legs...?

Though... ever since I had it tuned at 15psi on the standard auto turbos, the engine bay seems hotter than I remember... maybe its my driving...

But yeah, I don't have a battery box... I suppose all of this excessive heat is going to hurt the batteries life span.

This morning, I shoved an alum baking tray over the turbo (under coolant lines, away from wastegate etc) and seems to have worked a little and measured a temp of 70deg around the battery (turbo side) and 60deg on the batterys opposite side. (this was before we got the southerly change as well) Still probably not ideal (ghetto I know). But yesterday the battery was 90deg C after 10mins and pulled it out to inspect/service. So its a little better i guess.

Still too hot maybe? Get battery box now and relocate batt at a later date? Relocation overkill / not necessary? Though I can't stand the engine bay/fusebox layout... I'm seriously considering to rip all of it out (maybe hicas too), repaint engine bay and just start over again. my OCD itch...

 

1 Go get charging checked at Sparky shop most times its free.2 Car was built to have battery where it is.3 Moving shit is not the way to fix this.4 Good luck,but by the time you get to 3 I bet you have the answer.:rolleyes2::br:

 

well... technically its not broken... yet

I don't see what 'charging test' from a sparky will reveal. Alternator was charging steady at 13.8v which is the lower limit. My batteries max charge is 14.5v. Plus It was still sucking 5A when I took it off charge this morning... so its still quite healthy.

But with those red hot & barely shielded turbos right next to it is by no means good design (plus mine is missing bits). Reality is heat kills batteries. Upper limit operating temps for automotive wet Pbs are not really any higher than 55degC... so 90+deg C is way over spec and will obviously cause damage/reduce its usable life.

So I'm pretty sure there are some pretty good reasons why people relocate their batteries as apposed to just "because race car". Plus with lithium tech becoming more available / affordable... no more leaking acid + corrosion is an advantage. Aside from cost and labour... I can't see why it wouldn't be a good idea :s

*edit*
mmm delicious
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...ved=0ahUKEwj_gf3y5b7QAhVJE5QKHdx5DmsQ_AUIBigB

 

I'll start with boiling temperature of water and as you may know that is 100deg C.
At that temperature water turns in to steam and while it evaporates you have less and less of it in the battery
At 90deg C water also evaporates but not yet at boiling point (at least not at atmospheric pressure).

Talking batteries... 45deg C is the cut of charge temperature in most chargers and for most type of batteries. (If you actually monitoring the temperature and if you care for battery/battery lifetime). "good quality chargers will start decreeing charge current at the 25deg C" (As of Lithium batteries you will definitely have to keep an eye on the temperature as they tent to light up when too hot...)

Bizarre design of the battery being exposed to heat in any part of the engine bay tells you that car manufacturer didn't really care about lifetime of the battery since they put in there. And F**k Yeah move it in too the boot section ASAP.

13.8v is a bit low and if you have a current meter you should check how much Amps your battery is drawing. If high figure after few minutes (and you already full charged it) and no other load is on. You might have very high resistance in that cell or possibly a short (that would explain excess amount of heat in that particular cell). If old type of battery and you said that you added water to the cell you could measure resistance of the cell by touch the led plates with the probes of your multimeter...

 

:rolleyes2: I must have a Z32TT that's in top nick,not a thing boils

 

My friends here are a good read about batteries
Heat and Loading affect Battery Life http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_heat_and_harsh_loading_reduces_battery_life

Enjoy

 

So that means we should all be relocating the battery