DeTomaso Mailing List: April 1997, Message #61
     



From: brockctella@juno.com (Brock C Tella)

Subject: Re: Battery Problem

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 09:12:01 PST



Dick, I have#4711 which I'm sure is like yours a transition car with

early dash and L body.I Have gathered that unmolested the Pantera

electrical system is adequate. Problems seem to come where people have

spliced into thesystem adding stereos, bigger fans and of course high

compression motors. If the battery is of 850 cranking amps, the motor

being well grounded things should be okay. I am not aware of any

particular faults.

On Tue, 08 Apr 1997 10:04:44 -0500 Dick Williams <dcwilliams@premier.net>

writes:

>This post brings up the subject of the electrical system in the

>Pantera

>and I am surprised not to have heard more of it since I became a

>member

>of this forum.  I, personally, have had various electrical problems on

>a

>very consistent basis since I owned the vehicle (7 yrs).  Because of

>my

>lack of knowledge in the area I have been scanning POCA newsletters

>etc.

>for information on the subject but have had very little luck.  Can

>anyone in the group steer me (and Nobbie for his problem) to some good

>material on Pantera electrical systems.

>

>If I were to rate the various components of my #4726 today I would

>place

>the electrical system at the bottom.  That's how much trouble I have

>had.

>

>Thanks gentlemen, Dick (Do we have any females in this group?)

>

>Nobbie wrote:

>>

>> Funny thing happened Monday morning. Hopped in the car at 8am (7am

>by

>> daylight savings time), and conducted my normal cold-start routine.

>Crank

>> the motor before de-activating the kill switch. Bad sound. WHIRR

>Whirr

>> whirrrrrr....  Uh oh. Turned off the kill switch and tried to start

>the

>> car. Nothing.

>>

>> Found another way to work and when I came home 11 hours later, the

>car

>> fired right up! The ampmeter needle flew way to the right, but after

>a few

>> minutes (seconds?) it settled just to the right of center. Ran the

>car for

>> a while. Then turned it off and immediately restarted it about ten

>times.

>> No problems. Everytime I restarted it, I noticed the ampmeter needle

>> jumping way to the right, then settling back to just right of

>center.

>>

>> The car had been sitting since Friday evening, and the temps over

>the

>> weekend had dipped to the low to mid 50s. (The Pantera lives

>outside. I

>> have no garage space at this time.) I've got 20W-50 in the motor.

>The

>> battery is a Sears Die-Hard made less than a year ago. And I have

>that

>> flickering GEN light that comes on intermittent when hitting bumpy

>roads

>> and braking, but isn't flickering in unison with the ampmeter

>(meaning the

>> ampmeter reflects no change when the GEN light comes on.)

>>

>> Any thoughts?

>>

>> I'm now hearing bad things about Die-Hard batteries. That they're

>not as

>> die-hard as they used to be or that they're advertising would have

>you

>> believe.

>>

>> Should I just get a gel-cell battery and be done with it? Should I

>do a

>> trickle charge every weekend? I've heard of the Optima, but what

>about the

>> lighter and more powerful Predator I've seen at Pantera Performance

>Center

>> in Colorado? Anybody have any luck with either of them?

>>

>> Nobbie

>> #3766 (still looking good!)

>