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Battery dying, alternator working

G

getsum111

Yes I am a Pirate, 200 years too late.
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
4,188
Location
Pillaging in Freedom, PA.
Hello all. My wife and I were heading out to the local fair last night, and when I tried to start the car, I got about 1/2 a crank, then click...click....click. Hmmm, I had just driven it home from work about 2 hours before, not problems, no battery light on. Thought maybe I left something on (fog light mod :o ), so I threw it on the charger for about 2 hours (6 amp charger). Went back out, battery tested at 12.8 volts off, 14.8 volts w/ engine running, so I know the alternator is working, Thank God. Go to bed, wake up, same thing. 1/2 crank, then clickking. So I assume I have a short somewhere. How would I go about finding it? :confused: I'm gonna disconnect my fuse for my amps when I get home, but I don't think that's it. ANy ideas on where to look, or how to narrow down my search? There's a lot of wires in the car. :cry: Thanks.
 
Turn off the interior and under hood lights.

Wire a 12v tail light bulb between the battery and cable.

Start pulling fuses til it goes out (or dim, the radio and computer pull very little).
 
getsum111 said:
Cool. Not to sound noobyish, but it should be + cable, correct? :o :shrug:
Click to expand...

Considering you are only using one cable, and the return path is through the chassis to the batteru anyway.. it wouldn't matter which you use.. if you use the negative cable, the power would go through the bulb first, then the chassis, through the componentry and then back to the battery through the positive cable. (electron flow is negative to positive)

the only way it matters if if you needed both a positive and negative cable setup somehow... then polarity would matter, but you are simply putting the bulb in-line with the circuit (anywhere in the circuit)

Edit: I'd skip the bulb test, and cimply substitute a known good battery, or test the current one.

IF that doesn't help, THEN the bulb idea is a VERY good troubleshooting method.
 
Ray said:
Considering you are only using one cable, and the return path is through the chassis to the batteru anyway.. it wouldn't matter which you use.. if you use the negative cable, the power would go through the bulb first, then the chassis, through the componentry and then back to the battery through the positive cable. (electron flow is negative to positive)

the only way it matters if if you needed both a positive and negative cable setup somehow... then polarity would matter, but you are simply putting the bulb in-line with the circuit (anywhere in the circuit)

Edit: I'd skip the bulb test, and cimply substitute a known good battery, or test the current one.

IF that doesn't help, THEN the bulb idea is a VERY good troubleshooting method.
Click to expand...

I agree with ray on the battery issue, everything you describe screams bad battery, sometimes they just fail prematurely.
 
Yeah, I will definately check that first. Kinda wierd, tho. No warning really, just died over the span of an hour drive home. Wonder if this could have anything to do with my sputtering issue? :shrug: Kinda doubt it though, that would be too lucky.
 
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