medipedicman

Good and bad for the day. She cranked right up today and was idling great. While the clutch pedal was a little soft she shifted fine and moved forward and backward as expected. I backed her up enough to get the tail and exhaust outside of the garage and then just started cleaning while she was warming up. I was just getting the gopro organized when she died. Just cut right off with little fan fair. I got back in and tried to crank her back up and while the dash lights came on I did not have enough juice to turn her over. Small groan, then nothing. I pulled the spare battery out and installed it. It did not do any better. I guess I never charged the spare over the last two months.

As it sits now, the car is pushed back in to the garage, the first battery is on the charger. I think that the re-wiring and starter are performing as intended. I feel like the weak link is the 165amp aftermarket alternator installed during this down time. I am doing a little research now while the battery is charging to see what course of action is next. The alternator has a female for a harness but it also has a post similar to stock. I wired everything up to the post and ignored the harness. I will research the exact model installed and see what I need to do to make it talk to the battery.

Any BTDT advice would be appreciated. I will post the model number and spec of the alternator when I find it.

medipedicman

Well the research on the aftermarket alternator came up empty. I have had it for 4-5 years and have never installed it. Here it is









I ended up just reinstalling the rebuilt bosch alternator to eliminate that as an immediate issue.



So after doing all of that I pulled the battery off of the charger (charging approx two hours) and tried to restart......... The results were the same as after it died. The dash lights would come on but no turn of the starter. I pulled the battery back out, thinking it was just not charged enough but it read 12.6 ?.?.? That should be plenty to turn the car over.

It appears that I was over confident (imagine that,lol) in my starter and wiring harness. No sparks, no smoke, nothing dramatic at all. It started just fine this morning, idled well and then just cut off while at a stand still with me 20 ft from the car. I am perplexed. I have taken pride in doing my own work. That is really the only way that I can afford this hobby. This time I may be in over my head.

Mark R.

Does that voltage on the battery drop when you turn the key to attempt to start it?

medipedicman

That is a great question Mark and I don't know the answer. My gauge cluster is not a reliable indicator of anything right now. The only thing that works on it is the RPM and the Odo. Maybe I can get someone to come over and hold the meter on the battery while I cut it on. Or later tonight I can get one of the girls to turn the key while I work the meter.

Wisconsin Joe

Turn the headlights on before you crank it. If they get very dim (or go out) then the battery is the problem.

Basically, you can use the lights as a "sort of volt meter."

medipedicman

Thanks Joe. I will try that and Marks idea tomorrow. I never made it back down there today.

medipedicman

Starting point 12.77
Key in on position 12.45 (all accessories off)
Start position 11.44

Afterward, turned on the lights with key in the on position. Very bright, almost normal. When key in start position lights faded quickly, then out.


What does that tell me?

Mrmerlin

you could test the ground connection,

NOTE do this test without disturbing the negative cable connections.

next time it shuts off ,
take a jumper cable and attach it to the negative battery terminal,
then to one of the shock mounting nuts,
then try to start the engine,

If it starts then you need to replace the ground strap at the battery ,
and make sure the hot wires are all connected at the hot post the alternator and the starter and the battery

medipedicman

Thanks Stan. I had considered hooking up the charger to the battery while installed on car and jump starting it. I decided I will just drop the batteries off at the shop this week and have them both tested.

The ground strap is new.

What should a fully charged battery read?(amps)

Mrmerlin

12.6v BUT its the load test that will let you know what the battery can provide.
We have a CCA tester at the shop,
even brand new battery's fail the CCA test and are returned.

If your not operating with a fresh new battery then you need to start with one.

NOTE make sure to charge the new battery for 4 hours at 6 amps before you put it into service.
NOTE sometimes brand new battery`s are deficient on charge.

outbackgeorgia

Brian,
All this, assuming the battery really is good, indicates a bad cable between the battey and the front of the car. From the looks of the front cable, this is likely.
Dave

medipedicman

Thank you Stan and Dave for your help.

Stan- Please help me understand. Cold cranking amps would/could prevent the car from turning over today. How would that affect a running car and cause it to cut off at idle? Are they related?

Dave- How would I get a hot line to the starter to test your theory? Could I just put a battery under the car wired directly to the starter? If so, what should I ground to? The thickest wire that I have in house is an 8 ga. Would this be thick enough for this test?

Or can I take the meter to the hot line (removed from starter) and get a reading? If so, what should I ground the meter to?

Thank you again for all of your help. A really appreciate everyone taking the time to help me figure this out. I am still searching for that "light bulb/ah-ha" moment........ yet it escapes me.

Mrmerlin

Brian I suggest to do some google searching for battery operation here is a primer
NOTE as Dave said the power wire could also be bad and thats based on the fact your battery is in good condition,
if you replaced the ends of wires they should have been soldered

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.cWc&cad=rja

medipedicman

Thanks Stan. I read the first article and then clicked on the Batteries 101 guide. Lots of good info. I hope to know more after having both batteries tested and measured at the local AutoZone.

medipedicman

I stopped by AutoZone this evening and had both batteries tested and they tested as "good". I asked the tech what the CCA was for each battery and he looked at me like I was on crack. He said that the handheld machine that he had did not measure that. hmmmm. I was able to find a 2 ga positive battery cable that has both ends on from factory. Their computer showed the 79 called for a 48" cable. That seemed short but I took their word for it and can return if I need one longer. I may use it to test everything as it sits now.

I have the car back up on lift bars. First I will see if I can get a reading from the post on the starter. If not, I will then remove the positive feed from the starter and try to get a reading directly from that. If not, I will pull the battery from my DD and try that in the stock set up. If not, I will then attempt to attach a battery with the new cable directly to the starter and ground the battery to the frame using jumper cables. If the last result makes sense I will attempt to start and let run before replacing the stock positive cable. I will measure after I remove and will get one that matches the length, if not 48".