I recently bought a 1969 chevy c10 pickup. I have been having problems with the electrical system, the battery consistently going dead despite a new battery and alternator installed by the previous owner. Is there a step-by-step for diagnosis of this problem?
View 3 Repliestonight at 1am: I put the key in and turn the ignition, no start, no click, no dashboard warning lights, no nothing. headlights don't turn on at allearlier in the afternoon - didn't check headlights, but no start, no click, no dashboard warning lights. Sliding 1 key into the ignition gave me a somewhat steady buzzing sound from the car, the kind you get to indicate something electrical is happening (I guess that's what it's for.
I wish I were mechanically inclined.) Sliding the other key into the ignition gave me a much more sporadic buzzing sound. Like metal wasn't making contact, when it should. A few hours previous in the morning - car wasn't starting as described above. Someone pushes the car back from the front so we can make way for another car, to come in and give me a jump. I put the car in neutral, and notice that the dashboard lights and buzzer is on, so on a hunch, I try to start the car in neutral and it starts right up. I drive it to the home driveway, no problem.
2 days ago, I bought the car. A 97 nissan sentra. What it could be? Again, never a clicking sound when starting the car to indicate dead battery. I'm familiar with that.
So I have a very confusing problem. In my 92 Chevy Astro the battery occasionally stops charging runs down and dies while I am driving and will not restart via jump but must be fully charged. This first happened a couple months and several thousand miles ago but has occurred 3 times in the last two weeks. Both the battery and the alternator have checked out good, and the alternator belt is tight as a drum. What could this possibly be?
View 6 RepliesI have a 2001 Suburban (chevy) 5.3 liter Vortec engine, auto trans 4 wheel drive, fully loaded. As of late I come out in the morning to find a dead battery. this happened before and I disconnected the fuse for the dvd player that was installed aftermarket. some times I have to hit my dashboard to get the dash lights to work, now they dont work at all. sometimes the ride control compressor runs for no apparent reason when the car is off. I replaced the battery 3 years ago and it seemed to solve the problem until now. I replaced the battery with an optima red top yesterday and now the electrical system is going haywire. the ABS light is flashing and the service ride control light is on, the fuel gauge is bouncing back and forth from full to empty. What should I do. I am a fair mechanic but electrical is not my forte.
View 3 RepliesCar started losing electrical power on the way home from work last week. Dim lights, blower stopped, wipers stop, almost stalled out when getting off the interstate. Barely made it home. 30 minutes later went out to troubleshoot and it started right up. Ran for about 2 minutes and stalled out from lack of electricity. Put voltmeter to alternator and it seemed to only be putting out 8.5v. Took to store to have tested. Replaced alternator and it didn't work. Reman alternator still seemed to only be putting out 8.5v or so.
Checked fuses and cleaned battery terminal and verified good block ground and good body ground. Still having problem. 1996 Taurus. What next? Battery is exactly 2 yrs old and was putting out 11.6 when the problem first started last week. Due to cold and this existing issue, battery is only at 6.5v right now. Can jump the car, but then after removing jumper cables car dies in 30 seconds. Should I have the battery tested? What else could/should I be looking at?
Earlier this year had dead battery after sitting for a week. 5 year old battery so bought new one battery still goes dead randomly (overnight), instead of playing radio for a few minutes after key off, dash displays "system off to conserve power" ran it thru local repair place (ex ford dealer) nothing found. Voltage 14v at 1800 rpm, lights on". STILL goes dead randomly...
View 6 Repliesevery few days, the battery stops charging and dies.... tested the alternator, and that provides a charge...tested the battery, and that takes a charge... the car runs off the battery or alternator...tested and replaced all wires between alternator and battery... cannot figure out what is wrong.
View 9 RepliesI have a 02 f350 v10 with a starting problem. Sometimes it will crank but really slowly almost like the battery is dead, but its not! bench tested the battery and actually just bought another new one. And with the same result. I tested the relay that's on the firewall in between the starter and the battery and it checked out, i also bought a new relay and i want to put it in except I haven't figured out which wire goes to the coil and which one goes to the ignition. the battery and starter poles are marked and easy to follow ..
Also last month I changed the starter but I'm starting to get desperate and i think I'm going to take it off and have it bench tested as well. I'm just really at a loss in which direction to go. The truck on the outside really looks good but living in the northeast the frame and probably most of the outside grounds are toast and I've been renewing or just placing them as I come across them. Before i forget i tried jumping the starter directly from the battery with cables and got the same result. it would crank but too slow to actually turn over.. Sometimes my radio and ignition lights will sometimes come on without the key in the ignition..
I was messing with the battery in my 200 Ford Ranger the other day and must of arc something. I know this because after plugging my battery back up my radio fuse was blown and my alternator was killed. I replaces the radio fuse, that works now, and got a new remanufacted alternator (tested mine at Advance it was dead). I installed it and nothing changed. The battery still wasn't charging. I know the battery is good because I tested it at Advance Auto. I took the alternator back and the shop replaced it with another remanufacted one. Same thing, installed it and the battery doesn't charge.
This time I took the alt back off and had it tested at Advance. The alt was dead. So I don't know if the part store gave me TWO bad alternators or if my truck is killing them. I find it hard to believe it could kill them immediately but my automotive knowledge is not that vast. I took the second (third counting my original) dead alternator back and they gave me a brand new one no extra charge. So I don't want to put a brand new alt in my truck and it kill this one too because I doubt they will give me a fourth one. What is going on? Could it just be as simple as I got two bad eggs?
I have a F250 towing a Big trailer and the RV folks have told me that while the factory seven prong will supply power to the RV, it would take a days to charge the RV batteries. So...
1) Does the connector not really significantly charge the batteries?
2) Is there a faster way to charge the RV batteries while driving?
3) Would instructions something like I found at How to Charge Two 12 Volt Batteries on an RV Towed by a Ford F-150 | etrailer.com work?
4) Would #3 eventually tax my alternator so badly that I kill it?
5) Would #3 fry the electronics in the trailer?
I'm trying to charge 2 6-volt marine deep charge batteries in series.
This evening I drove our Subaru Legacy Wagon (1999) about 3 miles or so to the gym. When I pulled into the lot, I noticed my radio (tuned to NPR, no less) had gone off. Curious! A few seconds later, dashboard lights come on (ABS, maybe others). After that, engine goes quiet, car is dead -- turning the key does nothing at all, and the car is completely without power. Only the dome light works, and barely. I get a jump, and eventually the car starts back up --- but it took a while, and several tries, before I could get the engine going.
On the way home, I kept a careful eye on the RPMs -- when I was close, I noticed the ABS light pop back on, and the RPM needle go down to zero. I tried my best to keep the RPMs up by staying in first, and managed to park. Of course, the car was unresponsive when I immediately tried to restart it. Some quick internet searches suggest alternator, bad connections to the battery, and some other ideas. We've never had this problem before. The twist is that we're literally on the brink of selling this car -- we've got one more than we need. Thus, we'd be pretty bummed if we had to put much, if any, cash into the car just so we can get rid of it days later.
My 2001 F350 Super Duty diesel keeps draining my batteries for some reason, wouldn't crank on Friday. Put my battery charger on for a few hours and it started fine. The rest of the day fired up fine, on Saturday it happened again. Had both batteries charged and load tested today, they are good. Short???
View 4 RepliesWas driving one day, and when I came to a stop sign, the car just died.. I couldn't start it up, so I pushed it to the side of the road.. I tried to turn the key again, and it fired right up... No issues for about a week, but then I came outside one morning, and the car was completely dead. No interior lights, dash wouldn't light up, nothing. (no cranking noise when you try to turn the key) I assumed it was because the battery was old, and the car had just been sitting there for about a week without being started up. I was about to give it a jump, but when I opened the door, the lights came on. I put the key in the ignition, the dash lit up, and the car fired right up.. No issues for about a week, until again, came outside, car was completely dead..
I used my other car to run up to the store, and when I came back, decided I would try to start up the DeVille again. Randomly, upon opening the door, the cabin lights lit up, and sure enough, car fired right up... no one had touched the car while I was gone.. I drove the car up to a shop near my house, where they tested the battery, which tested good. Terminals are all clean, and he made note that the ground connection to the car was also firm and clean. He offered to run a diagnostic the following Tuesday for $125. I returned home, drove the car once more over the weekend, but when I went to start the car Monday, it was again, completely dead. It's been over a week now, and I haven't been fortunate enough to get it to start. I again tried this morning in hopes that I would get lucky, but it's still completely dead.
My F250 is acting like the battery is almost dead but its not. I've checked all the grounds I can think of, used jumper cables and clamped right to the body and still nothing. I put my battery charger in place of the battery and my charger almost caught fire! Where are all the ground points at and points to check? It was doing fine then this. I only found 3 ground points on the block and I bypassed all of them and nothing. There are 2 large on the front of the block, I was able to get one loose and "clean" it but not the other. The block to firewall is currently off so I can clean it in the morning.
But it didn't do anything. I can clamp anywhere are get the same results. There are a few threads about this truck and trying to get it back into shape. When it worked, when I turned the key on, gauges worked, RABS, Engine, and Battery light came on, GPs kicked on, etc... now, I get a very faint Batt light, Erie dinging, and not even the stereo now. This truck has been an electrical nightmare since day one. Spent 4 days on just under hood electronics alone. Haven't even moved towards the back. Also, Instead of using a 2/0 AWG wire to the starter, Can I use two 1/0 AWG wires to it instead since they used two separate grounds? It also still has a 2G alt.
My daughter left the ingnition on after rolling up my windows last night and killed my battery. My charger is saying that it's charging not failed. Is there anything else that could of got messed up?
View 10 RepliesYet again my honda is doing some new. My mid dash lights don't come on at all anymore (even when i start the car), my power drive and winter drive buttons don't work, I can't stop/start on a hill, I have to get 2rpms going to get anywhere, and my battery volts are over 12 when driving.
View 1 RepliesSo my toddler turned on my dome light on Friday and I didn't realize it all weekend. Monday morning the battery was D.E.D. Charged it all day then jumped it and it turns over but no start. Took it to Autozone for a deep charge and test and ended up with a new battery. Installed it and the engine turns over but still won't start. It ran fine on Friday. This car is my commuter and I don't want to spend the money to take it to the shop. Why it won't now start? Could the dead battery have killed something else while it sat in my driveway?
View 5 RepliesMy car began to not start almost every other time i tried to start without being jumped and now will not start at all without being jumped. the battery won't stay charged and I bought the battery brand new 6 months ago.
1987 chevy cavalier, over 100,000 miles....
I pumped gas at the local Chevron after noticing I was running just below a quarter tank this morning and immediately after turning the truck back on the instrument panel was dead. All other electric components worked fine (windows, headlights, signals, radio, etc.) Yukon GMC 2003 110k miles...
View 8 RepliesI bought my 2014 Corolla new a little over 3 years ago. Yesterday, when I was leaving work to head home I went to start my car and I was just met with my starter making a loud buzzing noise. My lights in my car, car fob, and etune radio were all working properly, but the car was just not able to start! My coworker told me that he heard of a trick where if you knock on the starter with something while trying to start it, it might give it enough of a kick to get going. Whether or not it was coincidence, it did work.
I was able to drive home, about 15 minutes (still daylight, did not need car lights), with no trouble. When I got home I turned my car off and waited for a few seconds and tried to start again. It worked, but it sounded like it struggled. I did it one more time and it failed with that same noise again. I resolved that I would just go get a new battery in the morning.
In the morning, my car was able to start, albeit with some struggle again. I made it all the way to work, and over lunch I was able to start it again and drive it to AutoZone to have them test the battery starter alternator. They told me the battery was too depleted to test it, so I went across the street to Walmart and bought a new battery. After replacing it, the car started like a champ as expected, and I drove back to Autozone to have them test my alternator and starter. The starter came back good, but they said that there was a fault in the test with the alternator. I gave them my old battery and asked them to trickle charge and test it just to see if it happened to still be a good battery that was just losing charge, or if it really was just a dying battery.
I have a '96 Honda Civic DX model, manual transmission. I replaced the battery, sparkplugs, distributor last summer. Yesterday, hottest day yet this spring, my car wouldn't start. When cranked, the lights came on the dash, the fuel line was running, the check engine light blinked, but then no ignition. Left it overnight, started up fine this morning. Took it to a shop,Mechanic said battery and alternator were good and a replaced starter later, I took it home. Driving home, the idle dropped way too low (no tach) and almost stalled the car (battery light came on) when I pushed in the clutch. Now when I turn it on, it starts, idles regular, then the idle drops again.
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