Battery Issues.

[SHOspazz92]

A few weeks ago, Ashley went to go take pictures of the 89. She drove to the spot to take pictures, Turned off the car and started snapping away. 30 Minutes later she went to go and start it and nothing. The Battery was completely drained. No lights, No Chimes, No door locks...etc..NOTHING. Jumping the car did not work, Pop starting it did not work. Replacing the Battery did Work. So, She replaced the battery and all is well. This two weeks ago. The car was driven every couple of days after the battery was replaced and had no problems.

Yesterday, I drove the car around for a while and Parked it. Came out this morning and the same thing...Dead. No lights, Chimes and forget about trying to start it. Went to Jump it and got nothing but the starter clicking. Took it to the Local parts store where it was Charged and checked out OK. Car started up fine. Drove the car back and had the ALT tested (We knew this was not the problem, But cant hurt to check) and it read 12.9...With the Lights on, A/C on Full blast...etc.

So, Where should I start looking? The car never really had these issues up until a few weeks ago...I'd hate to start checking EVERYTHING with a Voltmeter or whatever so I'm looking for obvious places where a draw could be occurring.

(For now, The battery Cables are disconnected until its driven).

-Sam

 

[sho_ted]

isnt 12.9 low?

 

[Phoenix]

14.4 is the Volts you should have at about 2000 rpm. Anything below isnt good.

But it really sounds like a loose connection (batt/alt /starter) or a poor ground (from starter to ground) .

 

[SHOspazz92]

14.4 is the Volts you should have at about 2000 rpm. Anything below isnt good.

But it really sounds like a loose connection (batt/alt /starter) or a poor ground (from starter to ground) .

It had near 14 when there was no Accessories running. It sounds like crap anyways. I'll probably replace it soon. However, a Bad alternator should not be draining my battery while the car sits overnight. I'll check at the starter first. Thanks for the input.

-Sam

 

[the4biddendonut]

I'd bench test the alternator if you haven't already.

 

[hawkeye18]

Hook up a multimeter in current mode IN SERIES with the battery positive terminal (I don't know how many people have tried to hook up ammeters from positive to negative and blown stuff up) - disconnect the positive terminal from the battery, hook one end up to the battery post and the other end to the positive cable end.

Measure the current draw. If it's anything more than 50mA, there is a definite drain. If it only takes 30 minutes to **** the battery, there is a drain of several amps. Start with the highest current measuring mode and work your way down.

Then, start pulling fuses. This is where a second person comes in handy. If current drain didn't go down at all, that wasn't the problem circuit. If it drops a lot, you've found your short to ground. Now disconnect/isolate individual items from that circuit in order to try to figure out what exactly has gone bad. E.g. if it's the stereo circuit, disconnect the head unit, CD player, amp/s and speakers separately and one at a time in order to figure out which one f***ed up. Then, replace that item.

Sounds easy, but is very, very tedious. It goes much faster if you have a helper.

Best of luck, and welcome back to the good ol' US of A!

 

[Racer X]

A few weeks ago, Ashley went to go take pictures of the 89. She drove to the spot to take pictures, Turned off the car and started snapping away. 30 Minutes later she went to go and start it and nothing. The Battery was completely drained. No lights, No Chimes, No door locks...etc..NOTHING. Jumping the car did not work, Pop starting it did not work. Replacing the Battery did Work. So, She replaced the battery and all is well. This two weeks ago. The car was driven every couple of days after the battery was replaced and had no problems.

Yesterday, I drove the car around for a while and Parked it. Came out this morning and the same thing...Dead. No lights, Chimes and forget about trying to start it. Went to Jump it and got nothing but the starter clicking. Took it to the Local parts store where it was Charged and checked out OK. Car started up fine. Drove the car back and had the ALT tested (We knew this was not the problem, But cant hurt to check) and it read 12.9...With the Lights on, A/C on Full blast...etc.

So, Where should I start looking? The car never really had these issues up until a few weeks ago...I'd hate to start checking EVERYTHING with a Voltmeter or whatever so I'm looking for obvious places where a draw could be occurring.

(For now, The battery Cables are disconnected until its driven).

-Sam

12.9 is a touch low for the alternator output.

On the battery... how do the cables look? Both at the battery and at the chassis/ starter?

 

[SHOspazz92]

12.9 is a touch low for the alternator output.

On the battery... how do the cables look? Both at the battery and at the chassis/ starter?

The battery cables are so-so. Not the best looking but far from the worst I've seen. I was not going to replace them until I had done a battery relocation (that's now going to happen probably sooner then later). I have yet to take a look at the starter. I'll keep this thread updated.

-Sam

 

[whiteman_01]

Hook up a multimeter in current mode IN SERIES with the battery positive terminal (I don't know how many people have tried to hook up ammeters from positive to negative and blown stuff up) - disconnect the positive terminal from the battery, hook one end up to the battery post and the other end to the positive cable end.

Measure the current draw. If it's anything more than 50mA, there is a definite drain. If it only takes 30 minutes to **** the battery, there is a drain of several amps. Start with the highest current measuring mode and work your way down.

Then, start pulling fuses. This is where a second person comes in handy. If current drain didn't go down at all, that wasn't the problem circuit. If it drops a lot, you've found your short to ground. Now disconnect/isolate individual items from that circuit in order to try to figure out what exactly has gone bad. E.g. if it's the stereo circuit, disconnect the head unit, CD player, amp/s and speakers separately and one at a time in order to figure out which one f***ed up. Then, replace that item.

Sounds easy, but is very, very tedious. It goes much faster if you have a helper.

Best of luck, and welcome back to the good ol' US of A!

I had a similar battery drain problem and my dad told me how to do this. Worked like a charm.

 

[93rev2sev]

How does the ignition switch feel? When you turn the key, does it clunk into the detents correctly?

 

[Wht91+]

14.4 is the Volts you should have at about 2000 rpm. Anything below isnt good.

But it really sounds like a loose connection (batt/alt /starter) or a poor ground (from starter to ground) .

agreed. I had the same problem. Mine was a bad battery and Alt. But the following year the battery died on me. Alt was still reading 14.4 Volts, Putting the battery on a load test it failed. I would lose 8 volts over night. A dead cell.
In your case it would be the Alt. and depending on how long its been like this could wear that battery down. Even if you get a new Alt you could still have a weak battery from the alternator not throwing enough voltage at the battery to run acc and charge. My .02 from experience

 

[fdogg96]

Sam,

Well, I don't drive a SHO..but conceptually the charging system is the same. I had the same problems on my 95 GL..except that my battery light kept flickering. I thought the plug on the alternator was loose, but the flickering never stopped.My battery checked out good, and I had 2 mechanics test the battery and alt with a volt meter. You can get one from the parts store for about $9-$12. I just bought one just to be handy.

The battery should be around 12 volts....the alt adds a few more to a total of 14.4. Get the alt checked out and replaced...unless there is a loose connection.

-Tom