stock L98. 144000 miles.

hey guys I've posted about this issue before but this is a little update.

previously the car had died on me when I was driving to work. I gunned it past some cars and she died. never started again until me and a friend jumped her. she ran for 10 seconds and died.

I went to check up on the car at my sisters farm. it's sitting on a tarp and has a cover over it but I wanted to check if she would start since the battery is charged up to full. my sisters husband has a battery charger which he used on it. the car has sat for a week now with a full battery. AC Delo. not sure what model.

anyways. I got in the car and tried to crank her. she sounded strong for that 1 second. then she started to die and the interior lights and dash lights dimmed way down. I tried to raise the lights and they barely came up. and barely went down and even the gauges where dimmed low.

I tried to crank her over about 3 times. on the fourth time the starter motor gears started grinding or making that loud stutter noise. the fule pump initialized just fine each time I turned the key.

I'm thinking that the battery isn't keeping a charge. how is it that a battery is 100% full a week before and then it's drained to a point where it can barely turn on the interior lights.

suggestions are welcome of course

thanks guys.

simon

 

and if your driving and our battery isn't giving the right voltage it'll stall won't it? or cause something else to screw up like the alternator.

 

well have u checked the voltage at the battery to verify that its te battery and what the voltage is during cranking. running, and just sitting there?

 

how old is the battery? if its old just replace it.. otherwise check the fluid level in the battery.. if its low theres your problem.. try topping it off with some water and recharging it leaving the vent caps off to allow for the water to steam off/boil over.. batterys can hold a full charge with barley any fluid in them but its just a surface charge and will be drawn away very very quickly.. the same is true of old batterys... if your battery is full of fluid and wont hold a charge and its a fairly new battery get a hydrometer and check the fluid in each cell.. if the batterys fairly new and has a dead cell or more take it back.. it should be warrantied.. if its an older battery just replace it.. good luck!

 

guess I'll go buy a volt meter soon.

 

i've had the same problem before... it was just a dried out battery.. added water, recharged... still usin that battery today 2 and a half years later hehe

 

I'll say it again. I'm a noob.

I was at my mechanics watching him do the oil change on my 89 Ford LTD and he checked the water in the battery which he said was fine.

but I was like WATER!?!

I wouldn't even go near a little wire with water. a battery like that is way out there hehe.

anyways. my plan is to buy a new battery from Crappy Tire and installing it myself. because that one thing I know how to do and I have the tools. one things for sure. that new battery will crank over all 4 engines on a Boeing 747.

 

Battery's can die quite suddenly. One day it works fine, then the next day, *poof!* its gone. Happened on my escort. Thankfully it died on me at home.

At least the alternator is easy to get to on these cars.

I carry a 100ft extension cord, and a battery charger with the Starter function on it. If there's a plug 100 feet away I can start that way. ^_^ Course this doesn't help on the highway, but its very helpful for parking lot stalls.

 

the alternator on my L98 is new. it was put on the middle of this summer. probably the cleanest thing under the hood

so I don't think it's at fault.

 

u might have a bad ground or power cable or something

 

yeah your right it could be a cable too.

what's it go like...

from battery to....?

 

positive to the starter and the other to a ground, probably on the block by the alternator? if it cranks for a second then dies and lights dim its probably not a wire though..

 

the positive cables go from the battery to the alternator, and from the battery to the starter solenoid, and then from the solenoid to the ignition switch. thats where my problem was. i was getting plenty of voltage at the battery and alternator. but the starter and accesories were only getting like 8 volts because of bad connection at solenoid.... and then u have a ground cable that goes from the battery to the engine block, which is a common problem when it comes to cables..

 

haha you beat me to it.! this post has been getting alot of attention in the past 20 min..!

 

1989 Trans AM GTA w/ free HOT Blonde for sale!

hehe

has starting problems :|

hehe

 

:sillylol:

 

I think I'm the only hoser posting in the tech / engine forum.

what am I doing in canada!
it's cold, stuff is expencive here and I can only drive the GTA half a year ... when it's running!.

:\

eh!