Dead Battery? Odd Electrical Problem

[B94Sport]

This one has me stumped...

Last night around 6:15, I drove my truck home and it started and ran fine. Parked it, came outside this morning at 7:15 to start it and go to work and...

Nothing. I turned the key and nothing (not the dome light, radio, etc.) turned on. The starter also did not click whatsoever. It was like I didn't even have a battery in there.

Undaunted, I retrieved my portable charger/starter unit from the back. Hooked it up, waited about half an hour and tried to start the car. This time I got the radio and dome lights, but the car would not turn over. I'd get a few clicks from the starter but the voltmeter would drop down so low that that would quit soon as well. I checked the voltage in the battery wires (which I have upgraded - they are not stock, they're 1/0 gauge) and it only read 6.5 volts.

I waited for my roommate to get up so he could give me a jump... Hooked his truck to mine, and the voltage measured 14.9... Let it charge the battery for a while, and tried to start the truck. Got the same result - clicking starter, working dome lights and such... We let it sit some more and it was still doing the same thing.

Finally we pulled the cables off and checked the battery voltage - 13.3 volts, but the truck would not turn over!... I am going to check it again when I get home, and I bet $5 that it's dead again and I need a new battery.

What do you guys think? This battery is only 2 years old, so I am skeptical, but what else could it be? I know cables are fine, starter must be working because it's trying to turn over, just not getting enough juice.

 

[Alec]

I had a battery that checked fine at 3 different auto stores, but wouldn't start the truck. It apparently had a bad cell but still put out the correct voltage, etc. However, if I jumped the truck it would start and just run off the alternator. Maybe you have a large short somewhere?

Try charging the battery but disconnecting your battery cables afterward. If the battery holds the charge then, you probably have a short.

 

[B94Sport]

I had not thought of that... Well it is charged up as of 8:00 this morning, but I left the cables on. I'll check the voltage on it when I get home this evening and if it's dead, charge it again and disconnect the cables.

 

[Robb]

If nothing was left on and it went that dead overnight, your battery is real bad. You may want to double check that nothing was on, then slow charge the battery. Even when you were reading 13.3 v, it may have only been surface voltage with no gut behind it. I would take it out and take to an auto part store that has free battery testing, they can test it under a load and tell you if anything is wrong with it.

Then again, maybe your alternator went bad yesterday and when you took it out last night, it was only using battery voltage and drained it down.

OK, that makes no since. I would slow charge the battery, get the truck to start, check alternator output voltage.

Robb

 

[FC2ED]

Sounds to me like you have a weak battery. A battery can show you all the voltage in the world but w/o any amperage you won't be moving anytime soon. You need to take the battery out and go to Pep Boys or the closest parts house and have them do a load test. This will tell you the state of a battery. Keep in mind that this cold weather does not help a battery. When you place the battery back in the truck be sure to clean both the terminal ends of the cables and the battery post with a wire brush.

Good Luck

 

[daniel cauchon]

sounds to me you have a weak battery and a bad starter.. ! cause if you r starter does not turn the motor when you are getting boost , it`s not normal !

 

[B94Sport]

Originally posted by daniel cauchon
sounds to me you have a weak battery and a bad starter.. ! cause if you r starter does not turn the motor when you are getting boost , it`s not normal !

Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I have not had any problems with starting... Up until this morning it would start up right away, no excessive clicking or anything like that.

Man, if the starter is bad too now that is going to be a real pisser. How much is a starter? I've got freezing rain outside now, no garage, and will have to fix this thing myself in the freezing cold! Damn!

 

[Robb]

How long did you try the jump? AKA, how long was the other battery hooked up to your? If you only had it hooked up for a few minutes, and your battery was dead-dead, it is normal to not have enough juice to crank your starter. Plus, the odds of you loosing a battery (or alternator) and a starter in the same night are pretty slim.

Robb

 

[aviator]

Solenoid maybe, should have started no problem with a boost regardless of your battery if nothing else was wrong.

 

[B94Sport]

That's what I was thinking. I had the battery hooked up to the portable charger for about half an hour, and that got it up to 6-7 volts... Then hooked it to the other car for 10 minutes or so, which got it to 13 volts, but still would not start the car.

I am going with either a large drain somewhere (don't know how this could happen in 12 hours all of a sudden though) or no amperage in the battery.

 

[Robb]

Originally posted by aviator
Solenoid maybe, should have started no problem with a boost regardless of your battery if nothing else was wrong.

That's not true. The battery in the automobile that is running is capable of only putting out a certain amount of amperage (especially at idle). Now when you hook that up to an extremely dead battery (you should hear the strain on the running engine). The dead battery is going to pull a lot of amperage to try to charge itself, sometimes not leaving enough to crank a starter. I have experienced this many times in my life. Just because you jump your battery from another one, does not mean yours should instantly be able to start.

Robb

 

[aviator]

Certainly would hold true depending on the amperage of the running vehicles battery and the current and voltage required to turn the starter in the other vehicle, however I've jump started a couple vehicles without batteries just to get them driveable to move them around the property. Again depends on the exact circumstance and vehicle particulars.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

Dead battery

My nieghbors x had a similar problem and our local auto checked battery and charging system,It all checked good. Load tested batt at home, tested good at 50 amp load. But still no start. It ended up being the ground wire were it attaches to the block down by the exhast manifold. Pulled the bolt out ant wire brushed it and the block. Then put dielectric grease on face and bolted it back up. No problems since. Found it by wiggling ground wire at block connection. Its worth checking.

 

[daniel cauchon]

yeah but hold on here you guys...I Live in Quebec were the temp will go as far as -25 celcius !! that very very cold and it did happen often that my batt was only a block of ice , nothing no juice at all and plus the engine frozen like hell too ...but with only a boost without unplugging my battery it would be enough to crank the engine and start it. so believe me if you can`t crank you engine with a boost it`s something else than the batt..I would deffinitly check my starter... if you want to make sure unplug your batt before boosting it.

 

[wbandyjr]

Last week my wife went to work on a foggy day and got out in 4 hours..She tried to start the x and nothing.She noticed she left the lights between off and parking and when she put the lights to an off position the radio went on without a key in the ignition..Also the lights were not on because the boss parked right behind here and would have seen them on..I got there and put on the jumper cables and waited about 5 minutes and it started..Ran it for a half hour and all has been fine sience..I had the battery tested at sears and they said it was good..I just hope it don't happen again..

 

[poconosms1]

similar problem

I have a similar problem with my x. periodically, I turn the key and get a click, the lights dim and stay dim. my battery is less than 2 years old.

I believe the problem is with the battery terminals. Usually one "twist" of the wire usually solves the problem. To get my truck started, I shut the ignitition off and loosen and retighten the positive terminal on the battery. I've removed the terminals and cleaned them, which usually solves the problem for a short period

One of these days, I'm going to replace the terminals. I don't think its the ground because it's the positive terminal I usually have to mess with.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

Loose block ground.

The reason why the block ground is hard to diagnose is, It only affects the starter and charging systems. When checking the alternator it will check good because it is charging and the batt. will also check good.. The block ground is there for the alternator and starter. That means as you are driving everything looks good while your battery is being drained. This will intermitantly cause high voltage readings on the guage and warm or erattic temp readings. And will not turn on check engine light. If your model uses ground straps that may also be the culprit.

 

[B94Sport]

This block ground thing does sound like a very good possibility... I have been noticing some odd temp readings, but attributed it to the recent changing of my heater control valve and coolant... I do remember that when I upped my cables to 1/0 gauge, I had to buy a different bolt for the ground wire that attaches to the block because for some reason the regular bolt would not go back in. Maybe the new bolt has somehow become corroded or loose, and my constant cranking trying to get the truck to start this morning is what gave me such low voltage readings before charging.

 

[TPLYNCH]

IF you still have your originals battery cables, especially on the '91-94 Ex's, change them. They rot on the inside and you will have the problems you are describing. Start with the simple (and cheap) stuff.

 

[B94Sport]

Nope... Got 6 month old custom 1/0 gauge cable for the power, ground, and alternator... 8 gauge was used to replace the stock small (12 gauge or so) wires on the terminals.