I don't have my license yet, but bought an 87 Camaro LT, 305 with a 4 barrel, automatic, in hopes of fixing it up when I do get my license in November.

However, this morning as I went to start it up and move it out of my garage, I noticed that no lights on my dash lit up, including the SES, when I turned the key. However, when I do put the key in I do get that ringing noise. The engine won't even crank over, and the time on my stereo doesn't show. If I leave the door open and turn the lights on, I get a very very faint sounding warning tone, but not like it's suppose to sound.

It worked great yesterday, I went to go start it just for fun, and it didn't seem sluggish. I'm positive that I didn't leave anything on like lights or radio or anything like that.

Any ideas as to why this happened?

 

Sounds like you have a dead battery for sure. You could try charging it to see if it will hold a charge over night. Other than that, it sounds like you have a drain. Good luck on finding the problem.

 

My friend just came over with a portable charger and we tried to charge it, but I'm pretty sure we did it wrong because nothing happened. No lights or guages went on or up on the charger, no noise, or anything. It's old so it might not even work.

I'm new to most of this, but if I had a car give me a jump with normal jumper cables, and I could start the car and what-not, and let it idle so it recharges, what is the chance that it will hold the charge?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

sounds like you may have dropped one of the poles on the battery if it will not hold a charge from a battery charger. get a new battery and hook it up. it should be fine, however, if it drains over night you can probably guess it is the alternator.

also, how can you screw up charging the battery. OF COUSE AS SOON AS YOU HOOK THE BATTERY UP THE CAR IS NOT GOING TO COME ALIVE. in no way is a battery charger like a "jump" from another car. charge the battery OVERNIGHT without using anything electrical equipment on the car.

 

We left the charger on there for nearly 2 hours, and still there was no juice.

 

If the +/- terminals are covered with that white, powdery battery acid stuff, clean that off both the battery terminals and the battery cables that are hooked up to them.

BTW... how old is this battery, do you know? If its really old, then it's probably just tired and ready for replacement.

 

in reality, 2 hours is nothing if you completly discarged your battery. but do a search, i think there is a way to test the alternator with a magnet. make sure that is good first.

 

You need to trickle charge the battery on like 2 amps for a whole day. Then check the batteries voltage, should be at least 11.5 volts. If it is alot lower then this, time for a battery, if it looks good. Then start the car and check your voltage by using the battery treminals themselves when running, if it doesn't go to at least 13 volts, and all your connections are good and clean, time for a alternator most likely.

 

It could be the starter. My car had a very similar problem. We replaced the battery because nothing woul come on, and when we pulled the old battery out, we found that it was a pretty new battery. My dad instantly goes, probably the starter, because well, hes 43 and been workin on cars since 12. Well we put new battery in, didnt crank, I think we got it to fire long enough to get it going, took it just down a road and back (probably a 1/4 mile total) and pulled the starter and had it rebuilt. Now we have no problems, other than it being a carb and yall know how carbs wanna start after sitting for 10 years

 

Well this is what we ended up doing:

I got a pair of jumper cables and jumped the Camaro. We let the other car idle for 5 minutes and then spent another 2 or 3 giving it a soft rev. Then we started up mine, left the calbes on for 5 more minutes, took the cables off, then let the car isle for 10 or 15. We shut it off, waited 5 minutes, then cranked the car again, and it was fine.

I came back from vacation today, and tried to crank, nothing. No power, not even for a light. Does this sound like a battery problem or an alternator problem? I just bought this car and was told the alternator was fairly new, within the last 10 months.

 

Letting the car idle for 10 15 minutes does basically nothing. You need to trickle charge the battery for a WHOLE day like I mentioned, then check everything accordingly. It may not be that battery or the alternator is bad. You may have a draw somewhere, but what you did, did not charge the battery anywheres near the amount it will need to diagnose it properly.

 

Problem solved!

Went to pep boys, where I didn't know it but it was where the original owner bought the battery. I pretended to be him and gave them his number, and got a replacement for free, after having it tested.

Only a 5 dollar exchange fee, and I got an 80 dollar new battery with new warranty. Installed, and everything runs great.

Thank you to all who helped.

 

Lol can't beat that deal.