starting problems, no juice

[TunnelFear]

i bought a new battery the other day, cuz i thought that was the problem, but apparently not. cuz its still doing it. heres the deal...when i got to start it..it has no juice. i can hear the fuel pump kick on, but no juice to turn engine on. i have enough power to run the radio but not any of the lights. i jumped it using one of those portable jumping things. the yellow box. after that its fine, till i try to start it again, so i guess that eliminates the alternator? and since it starts up fine with an alternate power source, i take it the starter is fine? so my assumption is that it must be the cables? anyone have any insight to this problem that can point me into the right direction so i can remedy it?

 

[jimbo74]

it sounds like the battery is bad.... take the new one back and tell them it is defective.....

 

[TunnelFear]

hmm, ill hafta take it back tomorrow and ask them about it. but my old battery was doing the same exact thing. see, i bought this battery on monday. it worked all day and nite. worked today, till tonite, when i got outta work @ 10pm, went out to my truck, tried starting it...and nothing

 

[jimbo74]

are you running some hi drain device? like an dc-ac converter? those will kill a battery fast..or leaving on your lights?

 

[TunnelFear]

no hi drain devices..havent left my lights on either

 

[jimbo74]

a short somewhere could also cuase it...

 

[TunnelFear]

how could i go about finding out if it is a short? and if it is...where it was?

 

[gfisch]

One of my friends had a similar problem and it was due to a shart in the power wiring for his amp. If you have an aftermarket stereo system, Id highly reccomend tracing all the wires and making sure they are connected securely and not shorting or arcing anywhere.
Also, have you tried charging the battery w/ a charger, if it doesnt works that way, then its the batery thats bad.
If it does work that way, then its gotta be either a short or a bad alternater not recharging it.
Probbaly the wiring though.

 

[TPLYNCH]

Have you replaced your battery cables??? They rot on the inside and cause the symptoms you are having. Start simple.... clean the posts and replace the cables if the are old.

 

[TunnelFear]

nope, havent replaced the cables. its looks messy, in doing it. anyone have any pointers? ie, how to do it, haha.

 

[TPLYNCH]

It's not very hard. Try reading through some of the attached threads for pointers.... http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...d=118395&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

 

[jiimi]

IT sounds like the cables, or just bad cable terminals. I had the same problem. Couldn't figure it out. It would start sometime,s not others. Fine when i jumped it. alnater and all worked. Lights radio. I would wiggled the wires a bit. and it would work fine. for a few days, then the same thing would happen again. Changed both terminals. and haven't had a probblem since.