300D battery charging after long sit and more...
 

My beloved MB '85 300D has been sitting for many (many) months and I need to charge her battery. Here's the scoop.... all I have is a 6 amp charger (6 amp med charge, 2 amp slow charge). I read through some threads and it seems that this might be useless. I have all the time in the world to have her hooked up, is this even worth trying? I'm too broke to buy something stronger, though maybe I can find someone to borrow a better one from.

There's more to this story, if you're curious. The reason that it won't start is because we had a sudden drop in temperature (I had commercial Biodiesel in the tank) and I could not get it going and seem to have either spent the battery or it's a glow plug or starter issue. There's just a "click" when I try to start. Before that it did turn over, but progressively lost steam.

First things first, though.... I'd like to charge the battery and then figure out whether it's an electrical or fuel line issue, which I've seen covered in these forums already.

I'd be grateful for any advice!

PB

Letting lead acid batteries sit unmaintained for long periods of time is not good. However you said that it turned over at first so that means it still had some charge and did not go to zero. So, in theory, all you need to do is charge it up. How old is the battery? Anyway, 6 amp should be fine. If the battery is still good it will take 4 or 5 amps for maybe 6 to 10 hours. If it is bad then it will only take 4 amps for a half hour or so then go down to 1 amp. Make sure the water covers the plates but do not overfill. Good luck.

Thanks, I confess it has been sitting for some time so might not be good any more. It's worth a try, though, before I buy a new battery. I appreciate your advice!

PB

Put the battery on a trickle charge of 2 amps and let it sit for about 24 hours and you should be fine! It lost a charge slowly, sothis is the way to bring it back to life!

you may have a drain somewhere so after your done charging see if still does it

Thanks, guys, for the advice. Didn't think about the drain... my brain went to more catastrophic things like busted starter and glow plugs. It started fine until that cold day with the Biodiesel. I have put some regular diesel in the tank I am going to try the long slow charge as advised. I suspect that I may need a new battery since it has been sitting quite a while, but I won't know until I try to charge it.

My worry now is that the fuel is funky from sitting a while, but most of the fuel in there now is fresh... the tank was nearly empty the day I had my mishap.

I'll post when I'm done, hopefully with a running car.

*crosses fingers*

PB

Storage
 

I stored mine over the winter last year (This year it's my daily driver :D lovin' it!). The battery was dead when I woke her up so I took it down to Les Schwab for testing and they told me to go ahead and keep the charger on a slow charge for as long as it takes...good battery, my charger is 6 amp (close to 25 years old) and from what the battery techs tell me, slow is good unless your in a big hurry, but sometimes you don't have a choice in the matter, the type of battery will determine it for you. They also told me if I ever stored it again to disconnect the battery and save myself a whole lot of money and bother.

I had mine sitting for over a year did a 2 slowcharg for a day and a half cranked right up...I wonder if you have to warm the engine to warm up the biodiesel and too much cranking might have killed your battery I did that when I ran out of diesel one day.

Hey Guys,
Thanks for the advice, tips and commiseration.....
My battery was dead after all. Got a new one this morn, and after some minor messing around with Marvel Mystery Oil and adding more fresh regular diesel it STARTED. Glow plugs, starter, fuel lines are FINE! Whew....
Now onto other issues and other forums to get my Beloved White '85 300D Perfect again. She only has 175K miles and should last many more years. I've been driving her here and there all day just for the joy of it, and to listen to one of my favorite sounds, The Diesel Engine.

PB

Glad you got your problem worked out. I just thought I'd chime in with another possible solution to a battery that is dead from just sitting too long, for someone who does not have a charger. I had a battery in my 300d that appeared to be all but dead (would light the glow plug, but couldn't turn the engine over). I took the battery out and took it to Sears. To test it they plug it into their charger for 45 minutes and then see if it is good. Mine was bad, and I bought a new one, but got the impression that if the battery had been good and the charge had held, there would not have been any fee for charging the battery in order to test it.

Gene

1983 300d (133k)
1983 300sd (118k)

whenever i store my vehicle i use a battery tender...you can pick it up for about 50 dollars at a pep boys or get them off the internet somewhere. it is awesome, it knows when the battery is low and it keeps it at full charge throughout storage. it really prolongs the life of the battery, and depending on how much u store your vehicle....the 50 dollars pays for itself. ive had the same battery for 8 years now.