jkesselring

Alright guys, here is a tough one for you. I have tried everything I can think of and still have had no luck. The car ran fine then the car had starting problems so I eventually replaced the battery. The car ran great for 3 or 4 months and then the car was dead one morning (I think my GF left the dome light on). I jumped it and it ran fine for a month or so. I didn't drive it this last weekend and Monday morning the darn thing was dead. This is the problem, the car runs great if the GF drives it every day (10 miles round trip to work), but if the car sits for 2 or 3 days it is dead. Here is what I have done: I tried the trick of disconnecting the neg cable and hooking a test light between the neg batt cable and the neg post, the bulb lights, but goes out completely after only 3-4 seconds (I think this is the computer). The batt voltage at rest (car off) is 12.17v. When the car is first started it has 14.8v at approx 2000 rpm after 5 minutes or so this drops to 14.0v. When the car is started the voltage drops to 8.7v when the starter engages (though this was after the car was dead and had only charged for an hour or so). I touched the multimeter to the pos terminal and the power wire on the alt and the meter read .40v and I tried touching the neg terminal and the alt case and the meter read .03v. I also stretched the meter from the neg terminal to the neg cable (disconnected) and the meter showed 10.8v. I consider myself pretty good with auto electrical systems, but this damn thing has me whipped. I don't know what else I can do. Any suggestions would really help. The next step is to drop a match in the gas tank. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

jkesselring

BTW the car is an 86 IROC with the 305 TPI / 700R4 combo. It also has power windows and locks and antenna (has been converted to regular antenna). I also disconnected the power hatch pull down. These problems have been happening for 3 years and a new battery usually cures the problem for another 3-4 months (exide batteries) and the parts store is probably sick of me returning them. Thanks again guys!

Vader

JK,

If you are reading voltage along the negative battery cable, replace it. There should be NO voltage drop along the cable and connections.