battery or alternator

[reefdiver]

Hi all, my 94 hasn't been driven for about 2 weeks. Upon return from vacation yesterday, I tried to start her up and go for a spin. Turned key..click,click,click...then nothing !! OK ... I figured battery must have drained for some reason. Today I put battery charger on it and....still nothing. Pushed it out of garage and put jumper cables on it. After a awhile, she started up.....ran for a few minutes...then died again. Repeated the process again..started again...ran longer this time, but died again. Tried one more time.......nothing- nada-zilch !! Pushed it back in garage and came running here with my tail between my legs looking for help. What I can't figure out is why it would start when I first put the jumpers on it, but won't now. Last time I drove it everything seemed fine.....all gauges looked normal and no problems at all. The car sat from late November last year till April of this spring, and fired right up. Could my alternator be the culprit, or do you think maybe the battery is toast? I don't have anyway of checking either, so before I go out and buy either I'd like to hear some thoughts. Also I have no idea how old the battery is....it wasn't marked with a date when it was installed and I've only had the car since last fall. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[mike weyman]

almost any car parts place will load test a battery for you.as far as the alternater, any garage will test it for a small fee.mike.
the starting and stalling thing sounds like fuel system, maybe the battery is so dead the fuel pump shuts down??

 

[StLouisCadMan]

One way I used to see if the alternator was dead or alive was to remove the negative cable from the battery while the motor was running.
If the engine died, the alternator was dead.
Now that method is DANGEROUS :nono:nonobecause a spark from the removal of the cable could cause an EXPLOSION from the spark and gases in the battery.

I know this from experience. I had a battery EXPLODE in my face that was on an industrial crane in 1978, back when employers thought that kids were expendable and tell you "To shut the machine off you disconnect the battery because the key switch is busted".

Anyway I had acid blown into my eyes my and could'nt feel if I had any fingers left till someone told me everything is still there on your hands.:nono

So spend a couple bucks for someone to put a meter on the thing, better yet call someone, perhaps a parts store and ask them if you jump the car and drive it there could they check the components if you will buy their parts.

BUT DO NOT DO WHAT I DID UNLESS YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE SWAT TEAMS BOMB SQUAD SUIT and some big kohoonies to take the risk.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Edmond]

I agree with what Mike said about taking the battery in to have it tested. Most will do it for free.

But taking out the battery is a PITA, you have to take the side fender off. :eyerole If it is the battery that you end up replacing, go with a Diehard.

If it is the alternator, go with Delco. Don't do what I did and get a cheap alternator. Okay, I picked one up from the Vette' junkyard because I was running low on money at the time.

 

[reefdiver]

Thanks for the replies guys. First thing Saturday morning I'm going to take the battery out and have it tested. Yes it does look like a PITA to remove, but I have no choice. Since I'll have to buy a new set of allen wrenches to remove the inner fender wall, I might as well do some other tool shopping as well. The wife will never know.

 

[Roadster Guy]

Battery sounds like the problem to me. Something to bear in mind: C4 alternators (87 and later I think) are not designed to charge up a very low or dead battery. It puts too heavy a load on them and they can overheat and become damaged. I read this some time ago in a good C4 book titled something like "100 projects for your C4". It also stated that most dead battery problems were the result of a bad battery and that most alternator problems were the result of alternators trying to charge a bad battery. And it did warn what Edmond is saying about cheap alternators.......good luck and be careful!

 

[redvett]

A generator will charge a battery fully and will not charge at idle, an Alternater will not charge a battery 100% usually about 65 to 75% but will charge at idle. If a battery is run dead more than 3 times its a goner. Always use a battery maintainer like a battery buddy or other brand to maintain your battery when you have car parked more than 5 days due to parisitic loss. All newer vehicles have computers and use power all the time.

 

[G Winter]

Before you pull the battery, check for dirty cable connections. You have all the classic symptoms of dirty connections.

 

[reefdiver]

Well........ the battery was the problem. Had the old one tested and it was ka-put. Put a new one in today and all looks good. You guys were right about it being a PITA to change batterys. Who's bright idea was it to make such a simple job so damn unsimple? :duh Thanks for the replies.

 

[redvett]

Well........ the battery was the problem. Had the old one tested and it was ka-put. Put a new one in today and all looks good. You guys were right about it being a PITA to change batterys. Who's bright idea was it to make such a simple job so damn unsimple? :duh Thanks for the replies.

What do you mean its a PITA you have 5 torx bolts on the front of the skirt to remove pull the side panel back carefully and the hold down bolt/clamp and the battery cables. Try to remove a battery on a C3 just lifting it out is a PITA compaired to the C4. If you removed the front strut brace you F.U. and may have screwed up the frame alignment if the car wasnt on a level floor.

 

[tyrel]

What do you mean its a PITA you have 5 torx bolts on the front of the skirt to remove pull the side panel back carefully and the hold down bolt/clamp and the battery cables. Try to remove a battery on a C3 just lifting it out is a PITA compaired to the C4. If you removed the front strut brace you F.U. and may have screwed up the frame alignment if the car wasnt on a level floor.

I agree, it doesn't seem like a PITA to me, how often do you have to change the battery anyway. There are other things on this car that are much MUCH more of a PITA, such as changing the power brake booster or trying to repair the infuriating Bose stereo.

 

[jcs44]

Here's another thing to keep in mind as I had a similar problem on my old 95 LT1. If your battery has drained down, which it will if you don't drive it much, you need to recharge it fully. Driving around with a low battery won't really bring it back to full charge - the alternator is designed to maintain a charge, not recharge. Also, when you turn on the ignition, the computer reads the voltage and if it's down around 11 volts, the car won't start. At this point if you jump it, it will start and then die - until it sees that 11 volts. I'd just put a charger on it overnight and then see what happens.

JCS44, 96 LT4 Vert Blk/Blk