Topic: Autolite Battery 24 trouble

[Ralf]

Hi,
have an Autolite Battery (seems repro) which I have some trouble with. Problems with starting the car. Seems battery has not enough power anymore.
Charged, has 13,3 V than....drops to 12,5 V in 2 days (battery outside the car).
Always thought the batterie is service free and none of the caps can be opened.
Today I figured out that one cap can be opened......don't know if other caps can be opened as well....by hand no way....to strong.
See pics.
Block shows no liquid inside.....acid/water....
Anything I can do here to recover battery? Not really familiar with batteries.

[67gtasanjose]

You NOW have what is known in the Mustang world as a Mazda Miata battery case. You should be able to find a thread (at this site) on how to gut the case and install the Miata battery inside...or buy another repro and hope for the best

[Bob Gaines]

Hi,
have an Autolite Battery (seems repro) which I have some trouble with. Problems with starting the car. Seems battery has not enough power anymore.
Charged, has 13,3 V than....drops to 12,5 V in 2 days (battery outside the car).
Always thought the batterie is service free and none of the caps can be opened.
Today I figured out that one cap can be opened......don't know if other caps can be opened as well....by hand no way....to strong.
See pics.
Block shows no liquid inside.....acid/water....
Anything I can do here to recover battery? Not really familiar with batteries.

the repro batteries are of the maintenance free variety that are sealed up inside a period looking Autolite case. The caps are typically glue on so you can't remove them . You can't top off this type of battery with water or acid like you could the old style batteries.

[rcgt350]

How old is your battery?

[Ralf]

How old is your battery?

Unable to answer, bought the car in 2014, battery was already in there...guess 5 years. Hm,  how I could open one cap...?

[gjz30075]

You NOW have what is known in the Mustang world as a Mazda Miata battery case. You should be able to find a thread (at this site) on how to gut the case and install the Miata battery inside...or buy another repro and hope for the best

Agreed.   Here's a nice writeup by Jim Woods
http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=5719.0

[Ralf]

Agreed.   Here's a nice writeup by Jim Woods
http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=5719.0

Thx for the link.

Attached another 2 pictures. I can not see that there is anything broken off.
The cap itself as well as the lid has a thread.....
Still wondering.
Btw. didn't charge the battery for a week, still on 12.5V

[5F08KGT]

I got tired of the $300 Mazda Miata Batteries, I bought an EXCIDE battery at HOME DEPOT (Group 24F) (THESE batteries have the gusset for using the factory '65 hold down.
 I then bought a GREAT, very authentic TOPPER and am very satisfied with it and don't show my car anymore in MCA Concours.

 The EXCIDE Group24F is right around $100 at HD.

[Ralf]

I got tired of the $300 Mazda Miata Batteries, I bought an EXCIDE battery at HOME DEPOT (Group 24F) (THESE batteries have the gusset for using the factory '65 hold down.
 I then bought a GREAT, very authentic TOPPER and am very satisfied with it and don't show my car anymore in MCA Concours.

 The EXCIDE Group24F is right around $100 at HD.

Did almost the same, bought a battery where the repop Autolite Staful lid was fitting precisely. Great working battery and from a visual point of view good enough for me.

[Morsel]

This is a repro, I have the exact same one that actually is supposed to be a direct copy of the originals that you fill with acid, I still have mine in the box and never activated it... I got this back in the late 90's. They came out a couple years later with what everyone else is talking about above which replaced these as a more current and better choice for a repro battery (maintenance free). This one you have didn't do so well in the market and I believe they aren't even made anymore for this exact reason, they don't last and are weak to begin with...

If you want this exact replacement, you can buy my brand new one that's never been activated, haha...

Hope this helps...

Jason

[Bob Gaines]

This is a repro, I have the exact same one that actually is supposed to be a direct copy of the originals that you fill with acid, I still have mine in the box and never activated it... I got this back in the late 90's. They came out a couple years later with what everyone else is talking about above which replaced these as a more current and better choice for a repro battery (maintenance free). This one you have didn't do so well in the market and I believe they aren't even made anymore for this exact reason, they don't last and are weak to begin with...

If you want this exact replacement, you can buy my brand new one that's never been activated, haha...

Hope this helps...

Jason

The old repro batteries as well as current ones are only exact replacement for 68,69,and 70. The old replacement had a error in the printing on the label. The newer version had the error corrected .

[ChrisV289]

I got tired of the $300 Mazda Miata Batteries, I bought an EXCIDE battery at HOME DEPOT (Group 24F) (THESE batteries have the gusset for using the factory '65 hold down.
 I then bought a GREAT, very authentic TOPPER and am very satisfied with it and don't show my car anymore in MCA Concours.

 The EXCIDE Group24F is right around $100 at HD.

I looked at these batteries and the positive and negative posts were on the wrong side.  Did they recently change?  I had to go to Pep Boys and get a Bosch battery which has the posts on the right side and has the lip for the hold down. 

[aaatp]

Have an Exide Group 24 batter I bought at Menards. The posts are on the correct side.

John

[jwc66k]

While wandering around Wal-Mart on Monday, a battery display caught my eye. A 24F battery (a Wal-Mart brand maybe) for $49.95. I didn't do a close-up inspection, like terminal location, or the hold down lips at the ends, or other specifications, but at that price, it may warrant a second look.
Jim

[5F08KGT]

While wandering around Wal-Mart on Monday, a battery display caught my eye. A 24F battery (a Wal-Mart brand maybe) for $49.95. I didn't do a close-up inspection, like terminal location, or the hold down lips at the ends, or other specifications, but at that price, it may warrant a second look.
Jim

Thats a battery that you'll be lucky to get a year out of.....