Before I get into specifics -- I am a woman, trying to fix this car with not much help, so if I sound dumb... sorry.

Okay so, I have a 89 IROC. The alternator went bad, so I replaced it. Ran fine after that, for one day... THEN, I got in the car to start it up and it was acting like the battery was dead. I tried to jump it.. when I was charging the battery, I turned the key half way and the volt meter in the dash was reading 13ish volts, but when I went to crank it up, it lost charge. I tried a couple more times, but the battery just quit wanting to charge at all... I am assuming there is a short somewhere, but I don't really know for sure. I should add that the battery is only about 2 months old. Any help would be great, and please dumb it down for me, with lots of details. Thanks in advance.

--Megan

 

could it be the ignition switch? how do i check it?

 

Also, when I turn the key, I get no lights, dinging... nothing.

 

You need to charge the battery for several hours - just having a charger connected to a battery won't start a car (unless it's a huge 50 amp charger).

It's possible the bad alternator killed the battery - a bad alternator can ruin a battery, and a bad battery can ruin an alternator. Have the battery tested at any local parts store for free. If it's bad, then only 2 months old, return it to place of purchase for another new one (2 months qualifies as a free exchange usually).

 

Thanks. I took the battery up to Advance, and they charged and tested it. Battery is good. When I got it back home, I hooked it back up to the car and it started with no hesitation. I am thinking the dummy who jumped it before had the positive and negative hooked up backwards.

However, My headunit is saying 'failure' and I have no idea what that means.

 

Try pulling out the RADIO fuse, wait a few minutes, and put it back - maybe your headunit needs a 'reboot'. Otherwise, your headunit may have some sort of warning system that needs disabled (warning you that an attempt of theft was made, since it didn't get any battery power) - you might need to go to manufacturer's website and download the manual for your model and see how to reset that "failure" warning.

 

it was a bad battery terminal dumasses

 

not meghan you shouldnt be expected to know how to diagnose a bad termininal

 

As for the radio many will say failure when all power is lost to let you know that all presets etc have been erased.

As for the other if the voltmeter did not register the 13 with the charger on I would agree that it was probably a bad connection at the battery terminal. It may have gotten better when reinstalling the battery cables after having it tested.