Kaboom! Hydrogen gas explosion!

[Barry Wolk]

Are you going to have to pull the engine out again to fix the damage?

No other way. Even the wiring harness was drenched in acid.

[Egenolf]

Barry,

I am sorry for your bad luck!

What conclusions can be drawn from this story?

I haven't followed this either, but obviously it is dangerous to keep a charger constantly connected to the battery.

It seems to make more sense to charge the battery and then disconnect it from the vehicle electrical system using a circuit breaker.

Anyway, I'll do it that way from now on.

[Barry Wolk]

Barry,

I am sorry for your bad luck!

What conclusions can be drawn from this story?

I haven't followed this either, but obviously it is dangerous to keep a charger constantly connected to the battery.

It seems to make more sense to charge the battery and then disconnect it from the vehicle electrical system using a circuit breaker.

Anyway, I'll do it that way from now on.

That is not always possible. On my old BMWs the battery is under the rear seat.

I don't think it was the charger alone that caused the problem. I think I started with a poorly made battery.

When I bought my car there were no 29NF batteries. There are several available now. I'm told the Die Hard brand is still made and it looks about as close to the original as you're going to get outside an expensive fake tar top.

[awags]

Cars can be fixed, thankfully nobody got hurt. Could?ve just as easily happened randomly when you/someone was under the hood working on the engine.

I?ve had a couple batteries explode on equipment I was running over the years but I?d like to add a quick similar story to this thread of how things like this can happen and to be cautious. Hopefully keep from happening to someone else.

My boat lift is 24v hooked up to a cheap (not smart) solar charger, so yep it?s always charging. Last year my wife went to lower the boat, I was talking to the neighbor. Of course the batteries are right next to the controls, waist level. She hit the button and the one battery closest to her exploded. Sounded like a shotgun went off. Everything exploded and went in every direction but by the grace of God nothing went towards her, got on her, or worse in her face or eyes. I couldn?t believe it?
Now the charger is always disconnected and only plugged in when we are using the lift and batteries need a charge.
Same goes for my cars, in storage/winter, I just plug in every month or so, once charged I unplug.

[Barry Wolk]

My friend, Rick Payton, owns a restorations shop, and he's usually the only customer. He's a former Mark II owner and now collects high-end Cadillacs that he's had his shop restore. He's very hands-on when it comes to the homes he restores, too.

Hagerty asked where I wanted it sent, and Wisconsin is just far enough where I won't drive it there every day and make the shop crazy. No, I'll be content in knowing that it'll be done right. I'm having it sent without a battery. I'm not 100% convinced that it was a bad cell/charger incident as the same thing can happen if the contacts of the starter solenoid stick. In my '68 Mercury the battery exploded right next to me when I used a starter switch to activate the solenoid. I released the button, but the starter kept going, ending with the battery exploding in the very same manner as this one did.

The same thing happened to another Lincoln owner, but no explosion. Hagerty has approved over $5,000 to take it apart for a closer look. The only way to get to the inner recesses of the heater core area is to remove the fenders, and due to one bolt sandwiched between the grill and bumper the bumper has to at least drop enough to get the bolt out but I asked that the bumper be removed to protect it. The hardest thing about removing the fenders is removing the trim to get to the bottom bolts. Well, sometimes removing the exhaust pipe is a PITA, too. 3 more bolts to detach from the radiator support and it's pretty much free. Keep track of where the marker lights and headlights plug in. It's a lot of work to remove everything around the engine just to pull it, but that protects all that sheet metal while they're banging around under the hood.

20 years ago I would have done what I did do with the car hauler project. They paid for an estimate to be generated. They asked what shop I wanted to use and I responded by having them make the check to me. They really couldn't say no as there was no lien on it.

However, I don't need the work, nor do I want it. I pulled my last Mark II engine at 70 and vowed never to do it again.