Just drug out a 1977 f150. Its been sitting about 10 years. Trying to get it running. When I hook up the negitive cable the battery starts to boil. Do I have a dead short somewhere?

 

Pop the caps and see if there is any battery acid at the top. It has to cover the plates or it will boil. If its not full, add only distilled water to the battery.

 

Sounds like the Voltage Regulator is toast and is now over-charging the battery.

Replace it

 

i believe mil1ion is correct. had the same thing happen to me shortly after i got my truck. check the voltage at the battery with the engine running. it should be about 12-14 volts. mine was reading 18-19 volts and boiling all the acid out of my battery.

 

Need more details; Is the battery boiling with the engine off- and key off, or key on - engine off, or key on -engine running?

 

This truck hasn't run in years. I just put battery in to try and start. It went click, click,click twice. Now it dosn't click or no idiot lights. But the battery starts to boil when I connect the negative battery terminal. Key off, engine off.

 

crown, welcome to FTE, you chosen one of the best sites on the www.
If the engine and truck has been parked for some time remove one spark plug at one time and spray marvel mystery oil in spark plug hole, do one spark plug at a time. Let engine set for at least 4 hours. Can you manually turn over the engine?

With a volt meter verify the voltage of the battery, if under 12 volts -
will need to verify and check the condition of the trucks battery. Do as Matt72 mentioned, if possible pop off the battery caps and refill with distilled water, then charge the battery on low setting for at least 5 hours or till the battery is fully charged. Then test the condition of the battery. Clean all contact points on battery post and battery cables. What was the voltage of the battery?

Verify clean contact connections for battery cables on starter relay (aka starter solenoid). Using emory cloth or 220 grit will enable a good connection and electric continuity. Verify and clean the ground cable at the engine block, verify all connection are snug and tightened.

When the key is in the Start position, after wards do any of the battery cables get hot? Possibility of the starter motor being frozen.

Don't buy any parts till you have gone thru the testing process, there is a broad range of experience here at this forum and if nessary, uncle Mil1ion has some very nice schematics and details, oh ya - have fun.

"keep us posted of results"

-buck-

 

Thanks for the welcome Buck. I'am also thankful for all the info. I will do all of this and let you know how it turns out. Just got my 86 f150 back from safety check. Looks like all brake lines need replace. Figure I'll do the works calipers, lines front to rear, also rear wheel cylinders. This will keep me busy all weekend. But I will get back to the 77 soon. Also have a 70 Custom stripped to the frame. This forditis that I have contracted is getting worse.

Crown

P.S.
Yes I can manually turn engine over. I haven't checked cables for heating, as soon as battery starts boiling I disconnect.

 

I had a battery in a '77 Dodge pickup that wouldn't hold a charge and the terminals were too hot to touch. Turned out that enough scale had sloughed off the plates to create a short inside the battery. New battery; problem solved. If the battery is old and has been sitting a while this could also be a problem.

 

Reverse polarity on the cables ?