TWO Batteries, WHY?
 

Hi All,
Can some of you who know the 617.910 engine look at this link (I can't figure how to post pics) and tell me why this engine has two batteries?
Also, while you VERY SMART guys (or chicks) are looking, can you tell me if the engine has a block heater, or anything strange/fun?

Link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6330&item=4614413924

Pics of the engine are near the bottom of the listing, thanks for checking it out. I'm not familiar with diesel engines (yet) and the last engine I worked on had a carb.

Thanks!
Ginny in Denver
Oh, and I KNOW this car has some rust and may have some other things that may make her a bit unwanted by others, but I'm in LOVE with this car. I want to be buried in it when I die in another 45-50 years.

didn't a memebr on the board buy that car......I seem to remember a thread that linked that auction...

Probably because some part of the starting system is weak so a bandaid fix of adding a second battery was done. Not a good sign, could be low compression. But their is no way to tell without an inspection.

Carefull with W115's they rust very badly. Wasn't their a thread about this car last week?

yep, me.
I still haven't picked it up in Montana.

G in D

How would a second battery help low compression?
G

Oh I didn't realize you bought it, I don't want to be the wet blanket then.

It is a pretty looking car thats for sure.:cool: Have fun with it.

Second battery wouldn't help low compression. If the compression was low it would be a pita to start when it got cold. Having a second battery will let you crank a lot longer. It could also mean a number of other things, weak starter, bad ground, or just a weak original battery. Maybe the PO was to cheap to buy a new battery and sistered a weak one up to another marginal battery.:D

People do strange stuff more investigation is needed. If it were my car I'd remove it and restore everything to stock.

and put a block heater on it for good measure if that one doesn't have it...unless you live in the deep south.

I wouldn't get too worried yet,
 

A lot of diesel pickups have two batteries. Maybe being in Montana, the PO just wanted the engine to turn over better on really cold mornings. Increases the total number of cold cranking amps available...
BB

Somewhere along the lines somebody put the wrong sized wires on it, during the summer... and that wont cut it during the winter

If you do buy it, PUT SOME 1AWG wires on it, and try to start it from one new battery

should fire right up... i bet its a fire hazzard with that <4awg wires... unless somebody sees something different, i wouldnt even try to start the car on it

~Nate

The faster it cranks, the easier the diesel starts. If compression were low it would start hard (not as much heat from the compression). If it cranks faster, less time for the compression to leak down, more heat and more likely to start.

I wouldn't say this is necessarily an indicator of poor compression. If the car is left outside without a place to plug in, such as airports, a second battery isn't bad insurance. In the winter my father always kept one of the boat batteries in the trunk of his airport car for a jumper.

- Jeff Miller
190DT

I've lived in Missoula, and though it may be the "banana belt" of Montana, it still gets cold enough to need all the help you can get to start.

Another idea
 

I noticed this ride has a second tank. Maybe the second battery is for added goodies for a WVO system. *shrug*

I know from experience with car audio systems that if you add enough electrical goodies, you will many times not only have to increase the alt size, but add a second battery. I do not know what kind of wattage is needed in the electrical heating systems and such on these setups, but generating heat is a huge drain on the electrical system.

I'm curious how well it moves with 100gallons of anything in the trunk?

The car has a second tank but it feeds straight into the main tank. There is no WVO set up on it.

I de THINK that this car has send most of it's life in cold, so maybe the second battery IS for better starting in the cold.

Ginny