Batt problem again.

[Firebird67dude]

Got stuck just now at my cuzins house. Batt is wasted again. Guess i have a drain somewhere. I figured a new car would of had less problems than the 67 guess i was wrong. Older is better in my opinion.

[1RawTA]

Check the alternator...

[Firebird67dude]

the altenator is fine. once the car is running itll be fine forever just once its off its done. Idk perfect timing when my cvourt date is thurs. next week n i need my $$$ for that n then the car starts giving me ****.

[Savage_Messiah]

optima

[qwikz28]

i had a problem with my isuzu such that my frame is so bent that the door would not shut properly leaving the door lights on draining the battery over time. the lights are so low that i didnt notice them till i walked past the car at night one day. i have now banged out the door to shut better but check to make sure all your electronics and lights are off.

[enRo]

Did you check the battery terminals? My TA always had this problem, even tho the terminals were connected properly. I would have to use a wire brush to scape off some crap and it worked fine.

[GP99GT]

corrosion on the terminals, small wire grounding out somewhere, or the battery is just plain old and weak and needs replacement.

[slasherbarb]

corrosion on the terminals, small wire grounding out somewhere, or the battery is just plain old and weak and needs replacement. :werd:

[Firebird67dude]

the batt is two weeks old tight of the interstate battery guys truck. IDK the car pnce running is fine lights arent dim when u put them on with the car off. all it does is click. I think its still related to the altenator plug thing. Idk wount find out till it stops raining.

[omarcamaro]

sound more like a starter going bad

[Firebird67dude]

Same problem again. Cant figure this out starting to gewt really mad. Y is it that i buy somewhat nice cars and ny buddy buys pos's n he has no problem with then .i dont get it.

[bad64chevelle]

what have you actually done to test it?

[GP99GT]

nice cars always have more problems..."POS" cars are meant to be reliable

[qwikz28]

Same problem again. Cant figure this out starting to gewt really mad. Y is it that i buy somewhat nice cars and ny buddy buys pos's n he has no problem with then .i dont get it.just replace everything (starter, alternater, battery). just because something is newer or isnt completely dead does not mean it isn't doing its job. those are all things that break from wear and tear is it isnt completely money wasted if the old part was still functional

[bad64chevelle]

yeah ive fried brand new batteries before, so its up to you.

[ar0ck]

A quick hyjack, but my battery is completely dead I believe, I have to jump start it each time to get it running, and if I leave it un-atended for about 30 minutes the battery is completly dead...

Is that just a dead battery that cant hold the charge? Im going to pick up a new Free Sears Battery (One in my car is under warantee) and see if it changes anything, I just wanted to double check my suspicions. My dad thinks the altenator is ****ed up.

[GP99GT]

If the alternator was ****ed up, the car wouldnt run for long, and the battery would stay dead. i think the battery is just plain worn out, go get your free replacement, they can load test it at sears probably and tell you if its bad

[its Jeanne-Marie]

this kid's got a problem with his BAAAATTTTT!!!

[Firebird67dude]

put in on the scope at work and the alt. is readfing perfect the batt is charging where it needs to be and the starter is fine. Idk my parents r startin to get pissed off about it. when i replaced the fog light i needed to put a new fuse in the fuse box for em n it was about that time this problem started. Actuyally now that i think of it the plug going to the back of the altenator is ****ed up. like it sayts its charging fine but i think its lying. anyone got an extra plug? lol or where i can get one. If i had the money id just replace everything but i dont.

[GP99GT]

pull that fuse and see if it still happens...if it stops, then you have a short somewhere in the fog light wiring/whatever else is on that fuse

[Savage_Messiah]

ask SmokingSS

[Firebird67dude]

i think its just the plug. along with the altenator. Every damn car ive had ive blown the heater core n had a batt and altenator problem. Im haunted. sniffle sniffle

[Firebird67dude]

anybody kno if i can get just the plug on the back of the altenator. On mine there is only one wire going to it. Is this right anyway? Please let me know cuz my parents were just like they r giving me to the end of the week to get the car totaly dependable or they r donating it. not even selling it but donating it. Im so pissed.

[GP99GT]

youll most likely need to buy a new alternator to get that...but i doubt thats what it is, unless its corroded. take off the wire, clean the terminals, put it back on. AND PULL THAT FUSE THAT SEEMS TO HAVE STARTED THE PROBLEM! theres a reason why the fuse blew in the first place.

[V]

well if they do end up donating it, theres a good charity in closter, 76 harvey st to be exact. Â*i cant remember the name but they take almost any car donation and give a few hundred bucks even. Â* :wink:

to test for a drain do this...take a test light or rig up like a 194 bulb,..disconnect the negative battery cable and connect the test light between the neg. cable and the neg. batt terminal, if the light illuminates, then you have a drain, if it is a drian, pull one fuse at a time until the test light goes out, when it does you have found the circuit that has the problem.

as for the plug on the back of the alt, if it is OEM plug, it is available at a place like pep boys, Â*if its an aftermarket one wire alt, it should be a plain crimp on connector you can get anywhere. Â*There are many small things that could cause an Alt not to charge correctly. Â*you may even want to look into the wires themselves, if they have been heated up over time due to corrosion or such they can cause problems. to test an alt out of a car and using a new battery to say its charging fine doesnt take into accout that wiring from alt to batt could be bad.

If you dont have a drain, try this... before you start the car check the voltage at the battery with a voltmeter... it should be around 12v-13v depending on age of battery and if you just shut the car off. Â*Now, start the car...and check the voltage at the battery again, from neg and pos terminals(not the clamp conenctors, touch the terminals on the battery themselves), Â*then keep the neg wire of the voltmeter on the neg battery terminal and touch the positive lead of the voltmeter to the pos. output of the alternator. Â*the reading across the battery and the reading from the alt should be the same, give or take .1 volts. That reading should be 13.5 -14.5 volts, if not, then there is a charging problem.

A rule of thumb i learned about charging systems is that in most cases, if an alt goes bad, the batt will soon follow, and if a batt goes bad, the alt will follow too. Â*if not changed right away one bad component will damage the other. Â*When ever i change an alt, i install a new battery. Â*when i fry(not just run down) a battery i tend to replace the alt as well. Â*

oh and one last thing the heater core in that TA was always a mess, a few years back we cleaned it out at my old shop and the gunk that came out of it was amazing. Â*We didnt think it would last tom as long as it did, it was on its way out for a while.

I can check out the batt alt issue if you want to stop by this weekend, im pretty sure i can trace it down in a short time.

[Firebird67dude]

on the back of the alt. there is like i think 3 or four prong thingys. The big one on the plug side has the metal male connector so that connects but the others have nothing on the plugs sie. I think that wat it is. Im gunna check pep boys out tomorrow. If they dont got it my moms friends owns coast automotive ill try there. Thanks . oo and when u said tom u meaqn the one i bought the car from?

[bad64chevelle]

ok or take smokingss up on his offer to help you and listen to people on here and try what they say. If you are serious about fixing it try whatever you think it is then take what other people have to say into consideration. Who knows maybe it will fix it?

[V]

well the following info is based off a tpi alternator but it can be used for many GM alternators. there is a four wire connector that plugs into the alt and then there should be a terminal seperate from that with one wire an a 10mm(or close) nut that holds it on. that single wire goes directly to the positive terminal of the battery. on that 4 wire connector there are usually only 3 wires, one space is left open in msot cases. There should be a black brown and larger red wire. That larger red also goes to the a constant hot 12v source. now, the black goes to ground in most cases, i do believe some dont require it, and ground through the brackets(ie: one wire alts, etc) the brown wire is considered the activation wire, in OEM alternators, that wires connects to the ignition power circuit and supplies 12v to the alt to turn it on when the car is running. In your case, you say the cxar runs fine once started but will nto restart once turned off. in that situation i would check to make sure that seperate wire has a good connection to the battery, if not, the red wire in the connector could fed the car enough to keep it running fine, but the battery will not be getting enough direct voltage to be properly charging. i still suggest fi you want to fix it yourself, go through what i said before to test everything, most likely you melted a wire somewhere since somethign maybe wasnt wired properly and thats all it is.