Another electrical/battery issue

[cjaldrich]

I was reading the other thread and decided not to crash his party, so here goes.

Over the last month or so I have had a very intermitant problem. It started when my car was behind my wife's and she needed to leave. I went to move my car and when I got in everything was working until I hit the starter. Then everything died. If I remember right occasionally I could see the dome light on very very dim and when I hit the starter again everything died. The fix? I don't know, but when I pushed my car out of the driveway the motion made everything come back on. So i went to start it but released the ignition before she fired up and everything went dead again. "Bouncing" the front end like I was testing the shocks made everything come back on and it didn't happen again until a couple of days ago. The last time I just backed out of a parking spot at the C-store on my way to work and put it in drive. Maybe a second after I started to accelerate everything went dead for a split second and came back on. I should say that I have noticed the battery seeming like it's getting weaker to varying degrees. Meaning that it seems the battery might need to be replaced. Could that be the problem, or should I be looking at the ground cable or cable from the battery to the starter? I would hate to replace the battery thinking that fixed everything and have it happen at highway speeds, but on the other hand I am not rich nor very mechanically inclined and if it's not likely the cables I could think of other things to spend the money on for my car. Any ideas or experience that might help me out is appreciated.

 

[Ishodu]

Clean and tighten all battery cable connections for starters, you may also want to do a inspection of the cables. And you could also get the battery tested too.

 

[ScotSHO]

First, make sure your terminals are not corroded. If you have replacement terminals on there, make sure the bond between the terminal and the bare wire is good and not corroded.

If your battery is approaching 4-5 years old, it could be on the way out. If you can check the water level in each cell, make sure the water levels are consistent.

 

[cjaldrich]

The first time it happened I chacked the cables and the ground was loose to the touch and I tightened it up. There is no corrosion on the battery posts at all and the cables look fairly new. I guess my next step will be to follow them and make sure they are secure on the starter and wherever the ground goes to. Then between the starter and the alternator I guess? Then have the battery tested. It was just weird how it's been acting so I thought I would ask for some input.

 

[SHOZ123]

The battery light really has nothing to do with the condition of the battery. It is a feed back circuit that when lit means the alternator is not charging. Really an unreliable setup actually.

The primary wiring on the SHO is pretty simple. There are two positive wires that leave the battery. One goes to the starter and the other goes to the engine side of the MEGA fuse. The other cable on the MEGA fuse goes to the alternator. Check both of these as it has been know for these to be loose.

I've personally also had a problem with the small wire plug going to the alternator at the alternator. This provides the field power and is also the battery light circuit.