The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Fithth Ave : Dead Battery - The Causes Thereof

Fifth Avenue,

Have a question :

Dead Battery in 94 Chevy - truck ran fine yesterday, but dead this AM.
Hot yesterday, but used A/C for about twenty miles.
Been cool but with heavy overnight humidity lately.

Battery is a maintenance type 1000 CCA about 4 years old, but checked about year ago. 100 amp Alternator is original w/ 100,000 miles

No shorts appear in the tests - Voltmeter reads 14 -

I am stumped with a ton of work to do, and not much time to dicker with it ... any suggestions to this overnight anomoly?

Will check back later
Thanks in advance,
Chief

Sure it's the battery? In my '48 Willys I just replaced the battery and rebuilt the starter trying to get it to crank. Turns out it was the cable gone south.

I've seen cables literally melt before. Check 'em...

-Boyo

A poor man's battery load test is to turn on the headlights and note how bright they are and while the lights are on, attempt to start the engine. If the lights dim significantly, two possible causes are the battery or the starter. To see which one is the culprit, leave the lights on for a minute or two, then try again. If the lights are much dimmer after the second attempt, I would fault the battery. If the lights are hanging in there, I would suspect the starter. Using caution, feel the battery cables and connections--if one is really hot, you found the problem.

If the lights do not dim noticably, the starter solenoid is bad OR the solenoid is not getting switch signal.

Is that the stock battery? This was on my 99 s10. One day, I had the same symptoms, it wouldnt start. At first, I thought it was the starter. It was replaced and it still wasnt turning. We finally tighten the batter terminal and that worked. Every so often, the truck would not start. I would tighten the connector to the battery post. (Keep in mind this is the screw type not the post type) Anyway long story short, after awhile, the battery had corroded the terminal so much that when I went to tighten it, it simply broke off. The whole screw terminal that was in the battery came out. So...moral is check your battery posts.

jay

Get your alternator checked. When this model starts to go bad, they will drain the battery. Usually takes 2 or 3 days, though.

Hello folks,

It was a Dead cell.

Battery was 4 years old.

My earlier question about weather conditions is based on something I had heard a few times a long long time ago. The same symptoms have happened before fine one day, dead the next.

It seemed that was said, was that a battery could play tricks on you in strange weather - you would think it is something in the primary electrical system, even the battery itself, but I couldn't remember all the details, and wondered if it were rumor that got around.

So far as my 4 yr old battery is concerned, it was a dead cell. I went ahead and let a shop deal with it this time for second opinion... we were in agreement. Alt. fine, electrical system fine.

I replaced the battery, but as far the weird things are concerned, we shall see.

Anyway, I was curious about the rumor aspect of the weather playing with the battery.

Also, it wouldn't be so bad to have a comprehensive checklist put together that can be helpful to one and all in a jam. (a sort of "things to look for and how to diagnose)

Thanks for your time - sure hope I am finished with it.

Oh yes a PS: Now I have a 94 Chevy Cavalier with a nasty water leak and an apparent head gasket leak with tell-tale bubbleblowings above the exaust - Not going to mess it, but darned if 40,000 orig. miles yields a blown headgasket.

The 53??? well... It needs a rear wheel cyl.

Sheesh, Murphy is busy these days. If I ever find 'im, I just might poke 'im in the nose.

I lost a 5 year old battery this summer on one of my diesels. While at Sears (I only buy diehards) I was talking to the guy who was replacing the battery and I observed that I seemed to lose all my batteries in the summer heat. He indicated that most replacements due to dead batteries occurred in the summer. He noted the other big replacement time was the first freeze.