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Battery or Alternator
#1
Posted 26 August 2010 - 12:27 PM
#2
Posted 26 August 2010 - 12:44 PM
-you will need both a battery and a alternator that only charges to 13.5v to fix your issue.
You can unhook every cable to the battery, and put your MM tester on the pos and neg of the battery, and if you hold the tester on it, the volt on the batt will continually drop, 12.5, 12.4, 12.3.12...,11.5.11.4.11.3, etc down til like 10.0v its dead due to overcharging.
#3
Posted 26 August 2010 - 01:01 PM
#4
Posted 26 August 2010 - 03:14 PM
Put your multimeter on the battery and check voltage with the engine off. Start the engine, let it run and idle... then shut it off and check voltage. See if voltage on the battery has increased or not.
From what you say, it sounds to me as if the battery is bad... it should be holding a charge if 12+ volts are being supplied to it.
You can also do a load test on the battery to verify if its bad or not, but its hard to do with just a multimeter. Its best to have a shop check that though.
#5
Posted 26 August 2010 - 03:53 PM
#6
Posted 26 August 2010 - 03:59 PM
#7
Posted 27 August 2010 - 04:01 AM
Jump started the car tonight and it ran fine. Had it running for 30 minutes while i looked over certain things made sure a couple of things were ship shape. Turned the car off then went to turn it back on (click) nada. So in saying this. The alternator is good enough to keep all the lights, interior lights and everything else powered when the car is running. But the battery probally has a dead cell causeing it not to be able to get charged. Or is it possible the terminals and wires are so crudded up from neglect that there not allowing current to get back to the battery to charge it. Theres a pretty good onion growing on the positive terminal but its been six months since ive cleaned up the last one. 99.9 percent sure its the battery but who knows. I need to clean up the electrical connections so that will be my sunday project.
On a side note, anyone know why my headlights and interior lights might flicker every once in a while.
Edited by The Dude Abides, 27 August 2010 - 04:09 AM.
#8
Posted 28 August 2010 - 10:37 AM
New cables are cheaper than a new battery.
#9
Posted 28 August 2010 - 08:25 PM
Replace your battery cables. I have seen corrosion work its way into the cable, you'd never notice it because the corrosion gets under the insulation and renders the cable useless.
New cables are cheaper than a new battery.
So i should check out the cables before i second guess the battery.
#10
Posted 28 August 2010 - 11:10 PM
Just take the car to an auto parts place that can test the battery.
Or buy a cheap Harbor Freight load tester.
It's very simple to check things without all this guessing.
#11
Posted 30 August 2010 - 10:47 AM
So i should check out the cables before i second guess the battery.
No, i am almost sure your battery is still bad. But when you get a new one, buy new cables and install them as well. Its probably only $10 for a set of cables, and it'll be worth it.
#12
Posted 30 August 2010 - 11:08 AM
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