ca993twin

I was planning on starting up Rufus this afternoon for a short warm-up drive before the Saturday "Bay Area" get together. There is no 12v power. I had to use the key to unlock the door and open the trunk. No lights anywhere. I put a battery charger on the relatively new battery, and still no lights! I'm kinda guessing that one of the main battery cables has come loose, but not sure.
If I cant get Rufus up and running, I'll have to miss the Saturday drive, and have the car flatbedded over to Fastlane for a look over. Unless I can coax Tim to make a house call.
Any ideas? Easy stuff... I'm a horrible mechanic.
Thanks in advance!

OverBoosted28

You don't keep Rufus on a battery tender? I keep my car plugged in anytime it's not on the road. Take a voltage meter and see if there's anything at the battery. If not that's the problem. If so, start chasing down the short. How long since you last drove it? Make sure there's water in it. Distilled water only if you need to add some. It may need a hard charge on a good 12 volt charger for at least over night. Sometimes you have to wake them from their sleep with a good charge, not a trickle charger.

ca993twin

I only left the charger (10A) on for a few minutes, and was surprised to see that the trunk light wasn't on. I forgot to use my volt meter on the battery, but will check that when I get home. Duh. I drive Rufus every week, and have never had a problem. I wonder if a light was left on or something like that.

Richard 911

Tough to diagnose but sounds like the battery may have been drained. How long since your last drive?

This happened to my twin turbo a long time ago. Had a battery Only a two+ years old and I forgot to attach the tender leads when stored for a couple months of no-use. Like you, no start, no alarm, no lights and wouldn't take a charge, nothing. Installed a new battery and immediately started.

Hope your fix is as simple.

good luck.

RP

pirahna

The trunk light still didn't come on even when you had the charger hooked up?

ca993twin

No trunk light even with the charger hooked up. Confession, my 50 year-old charger died last week, so I bought a new one today... not sure if the charger is working correctly, but looks pretty simple. I'll do a bit more diagnostics when i get home. Thanks all.

pirahna

If you are questioning your charger let me know if you want me to swing by with my charger. I got no plans tonight.

ca993twin

Pirahna, Please check your email.

NP993

OP I would have the car flatbedded to a shop to have your battery charged. Sounds like you're in over your head.

pirahna

I didn't get anything.

ca993twin

The battery is so weak (0.02V) that the automatic charger may not start up. I've called AAA for a jump, and maybe they can tell me what went wrong. The battery is 26 months old. I believe it has a 36 month warranty. My cell is (805)217-6304. Thanks! Steve

Pags993

New dual battery charger/maintainer in order but I would also suggest one of these for future incidents. Fantastic product and built very well. No need to call for a boost, or do the 2 car mambo or mess with boost cables. Hope you get it started for tomorrows run

OverBoosted28

Steve, don't give up on your battery just yet. You need a good deep cycle charger. The little trickle chargers or tenders won't do it. A completely dead battery can be revived as long as it hasn't been to long and corrosion has taken over. If it's only a few years old it you should be able to bring it back to life. Pull the caps, get it on a good 10 amp charge and wait for the water to boil. Good luck.

ca993twin

AAA was here and after pumping 13.5 volts into the battery for 15 minutes or so, the battery went to 10.75v when we pulled the chargers. Sounds like a bad cell in there. I got my new charger to show "charge" on the indicator, so I'll let it attempt to revive itself overnight. The battery is about 25 months old and has a a 36 month warranty (I think).

OverBoosted28

Hope it works :-). Wish I could come up and join you guys manana.