dbreese Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Last Sat I had to replace my battery (7 years old). It finally gave up. Fast forward yesterday. A bunch of my buddies went to TnT at the local track for some fun and smack talking. I haven't had my car a track since Drag Week 2013. I was a little amped up since I haven't made a pass in over a year. Checked the car over in the pits before pulling up to the lanes. All was good, or so I thought. Pulled up in the lanes and put my gear on and started to feel better. As soon as I pulled up and backed into the water box I was comfortable. Uneventful burnout and I was zoned in. Gauges looked good, engine sounded fine. I pull into the lights, prestage and bump in to turn on the stage light. Yellows come down and ripped it on the last yellow. Car hooked hard and was on a good pass then it just shuts off about 200 feet out. I immediately pull out of the groove and next to wall and stop the car. No smoke. I unbelt and get out of the car. No fluids on the track (thank goodness) Guys come out and push me back and down into the pits. While I'm being pushed I'm thinking it must be something electrical. Well I open the hood and the battery was out of the tray and lying between the shroud and the frame. The wires from the MSD box were ripped from the terminal, killing the ignition. The battery itself had cracked the shroud but stayed out of the fan. I was extremely fortunate that the positive post didn't ground against ant metal. I'm certain this would have led to a fire. I do have a 1.5 pound halon extinguisher in the car that would have bought me some time but not much. This is what caused the battery to come out. When I installed it last weekend I failed to secure the rear tab located at the bottom of the case underneath the rear hold down tab part of the tray. After tightening down the front hold down bracket I tugged on the battery and it seemed tight. WRONG!!! With some help from my friends we got things back together and I ended up making three passes. Car ran great and my lights were .007, .008, .006. Car ran in the low 11.40's which was about right on par for the DA which was around 2700'. Air temp was around 78 degrees. Moral of the story, check your equipment and when you are done do it again. I'm always careful about my car especially at the track. I totally blew that one. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I always say.... I'd rather be lucky than good any day!!!!! and those are some awesome lights you cut!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cudax Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I had a simular story about a year ago when I took my 26 year old daughter for a real ride in my Monte. She hadn't been in it since the engine upgrade so I bragged up the car and took her out. When I got on it just a little I felt and heard a thump under the hood and felt it in my steering. It was night time and I started to pull over to take a look when I heard and felt something hit along the bottom of the car and out the back. Something told me not to turn the car off so I removed the trunk key from the key ring to get my light out of the trunk. When I got to the back of the car I saw in the distance my new Optima battery all chewed up with my cables still attached to it. I quickly threw it in the trunk and hauled butt back home on alternator power. My daughter called my wife to have her open the garage but only told her we were coming in hot! So, my wife thought I was probably trying to hide from the cops since she knew what kind of ride I was taking my daughter on. Luckily, I made it home very quickly and the second I pulled into the garage the car died. At the time, I still had my inner fender wells out so when the battery flipped out it landed on my pass upper control arm then eventually the tire sucked it out and I drove over it and spit it out the rear. New $200 battery and cables plus a whole new billet tray and over the top hold down and it was good as new. The alternator actually survived! Now, I hear that story from my daughter when ever we are out with friends together. Wish I would do something else just as stupid so I don't have to hear about it anymore! :-) Anyway, glad you didn't suffer any serious damage. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
502ci Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Wow, glad all turned out well. I agree those are some awesome lights...even more amazing is the fact you have not raced it in over a year and cut those first time back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreese Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 Yea the whole reaction time thing really caught me by surprise! I thought the first was just luck, the second again was luck but I caught the third and was like wow! I just found that sweet spot and kept hitting it. On a good day bracket racing I'm usually around .020 to .025's and then I will totally miss my dial. LOL David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Richey Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Yeah killer RTs for sure. Sucks about your battery, reading this is another good reason for the battery in a box in the trunk not just for weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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