Won't start

[Darkness77]

Hey guys, Been having some problems with the wifes car. Sometimes it refuses to start. Yesterday she drove into town to get fuel, car starts, drove somewhere else, turned the car off and a few seconds later tried to start and nothing. Chucked the jumper leads on and away it goes. I chucked a meter on it and get 12.5V at the battery and 14.4 when its running. This morning I was checking out all the terminals and wires and noticed an acid residue on top of the battery. Would this mean the battery is boiling from time to time? I top up the water in the battery occasionally and it always takes a little. Could this be the regulator in the alternator not doingits job? I'm a bit puzzled.

[EDGE3]

Need to check the CAS,Fuel filter,how old is the battery maybe its time for a new one

[Burnout124]

i would say it may be the battery

[justbad4you]

Hey guys, Been having some problems with the wifes car. Sometimes it refuses to start. Yesterday she drove into town to get fuel, car starts, drove somewhere else, turned the car off and a few seconds later tried to start and nothing. Chucked the jumper leads on and away it goes. I chucked a meter on it and get 12.5V at the battery and 14.4 when its running. This morning I was checking out all the terminals and wires and noticed an acid residue on top of the battery. Would this mean the battery is boiling from time to time? I top up the water in the battery occasionally and it always takes a little. Could this be the regulator in the alternator not doingits job? I'm a bit puzzled.

when it next refuses to start>>> give the t bar a wiggle and see if anything changes(just a thought)

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight. And what sort of car is it?

[Darkness77]

Yep thanks for the ideas. Been through the whole thing, leads, terminals you name it.
Everything is clean and tight.Cars a VS Senator with a 5.7 and 6 speed. Its got a reasonably sized stereo and my missus listens to some crap music with lots of beats. Going to get a new battery today and then put the multi meter on it with the stereo going. Mate of mine reckons it might need a cap.

[BlackVXGTS]

An Optima YellowTop battery would be the way to go to support a large stereo. Sounds like your battery is not holding its charge when warm. I'm not a HiFi expert but I can't see the cap making any difference as it simply stores energy to satisfy any peak (ie. short interval) requirements.