tommy boy2

seems to charge but not great - will slow crank start everytime but not the fast crank you would expect. Took to Autozone and they ran a test and said that the alternator is putting out 14.3-14.5 volts to the battery and that the battery wa stoo low to test. and the guy said the starter data looked funny but I suggested maybe that was because the battery was low. When I trickle charge it at night it starts like a champ. Could this be a bad battery or possibky a slightly loose ground wire somewhere? I got a used battery from a junkyard and they assured me it was good but told me i could bring it back if i had troubles...where to start first? thanks!

Former User

Sounds like a bad battery.

tommy boy2

is there any way to test to make sure? could it be a loose ground too??
the trickle charger overnight made me think the battery was ok somehow but i'd like to make sure before i bring it back to the yard, thanks!

Former User

The battery isn't holding charge or isn't fully charging.

tony_2018

mulimeter should be able to tell you if its holding charge or not.

stevenbr549

You might want to check for a draw, too. Any aftermarket electronics in the car?

tommy boy2

i've been driving w/o radio on to see if it helps...not so much

stevenbr549

Well, we're not really worried about the electrical load when the car is running; it's the parasitic draw (when the car is off) you want to check. You'll need a multimeter to check it properly. With the key out of the ignition and the doors shut, disconnect the negative battery cable and connect one lead of the meter to the negative battery post and the other lead to the loose cable end. With the meter set on DC amps, you should see, after 10 minutes or so, less than 50 miliamps (.050 amps). In reality, it should probably even be down around 30. If you see more than that, something's draining your battery. The most common culprits are dome lights (easy enough), and aftermarket radio equipment or security systems. Something to consider, anyway.

tommy boy2

what worries me is that even after a 4 hour highway run with no radio on it still starts with slow cranking - but if i trickle charge it overnight it cranks very fast for the first few starts then goes back to ;lazy cranking. Slow but stubbornly persistent. not thje slow that happens when it is really low. The autozone tester said it was at 10.5 volts and too low to actually test the battery on the autozone machine - so I thpought i might trickle charge it and go back in the morning and see what their machine says. I think he said when he put a load on it it was going down too fast last time

92ehatch

If the alternator is good...which it is and after driving it does not hold a charge i would venture to say replace the battery. This is not rocket science.

Charging good, battery no hold charge, change battery

If problem persists then i would look into draw.

I can tell you that driving with a bad battery can put strain on that good alternator

tommy boy2

ok that makes sense - thanks. i'll trickle charge it tonight anf take it to get tested tomorrow and hopefully a battery too.

92ehatch

The last batteryi picked up at napa was 70 not bad. pay attention to cold cranking amps that is the rating at 32f some also lable ratings for 0 you will notice a sharp drop off. The lower the amps the slower she turns when cold

tommy boy2

that's the weird thing: this battery seems to be turning a little faster now it has gotten cold. but still not the fast cranking you want either hot or cold. it was too low to test at autozone on their multimeter (turn lights on, now off, etc.) and its so cold tonight but i know

tommy boy2

charged for 45 minutes this morning with a 6amp charger and it started like a champ, all whirlybird everything's ok. couple f stops and starts and it was slowing down. At Autozone, they tested it as 13.74 volts and as "Bad" with the explanation that it is not holding the charge so it is getting overcharged (and this is putting an extra strain on the alternator). They wanted $130 for a battery - so back to the junkyard where I got the last one with a 2012 sticker on it. They had one with a 2011 sticker that needed a charge but the guy said he thought it would be ok, so it is on the charger now (at 2amps) and i'll juice it up to 6 amps for an hour or so and load it in and cross my fingers (and turn the key). Junkyard allowed me to swap it and return the other one when i could. I figured 2011 should get me a few years (4 or 5) and the car may not last more than that...

angrysmileyface

Seriously, stop playing with older batteries. There is a reason they only have a 3 year warrenty. I got an advance auto battery the gold one for 90$ after tax, using one of their 50$ off a 125$ purchase, and my battery had 2 cranking amps after being in use nearly 5 years. If you need a better warranty, goto Sams club or duracell or sears which have some warranty + a pro-rating.

TomCat39

Cosco here in Canada has our battery for around 80 bucks and it has a 7 or 8 year warranty, first 3 years straight swap and pro rate after that.

That beats out my Interstate battery that cost me 150 bucks and only has a 4 year warranty with 1st year free swap.

Humphrizzle

Replace the battery

92ehatch

Advance and oreilly both carry used tested good batteries if you are going to go cheap. But after two junkyard batteries are bad why try another.

tommy boy2

wish i was in canada! 2nd junk yard battery is in the car and charging at 2 amps overnight. It was a cold night putting it in but it went smoother than any other time I've changed a hatchie battery-learning to wire up the long battery hold down screws and lock down bar across the top to keep them from slipping around saved a lot of time and struggle. I'll update tomorrow

tommy boy2

the new used battery is a 2011 and it seems to work like a champ: so far it has made 4 starts in the cold morning weather and it is whipping around like a caffeinated tornado. the other used battery was stamped 6/2013 and a duralast from autozone but it must have had a bad life before i got it used. i was thinking it was still within the 2-year warranty but when i checked online it said the warranty was only good for the original owner of the battery, not a blanket warranty for the battery itself, which I had hoped! Would have been too easy! But seems like I am ok for now. Thanks for all the help, when they told me the battery (original) was good I started to worry it was my alternator and that looked expensive to replace. You guys rock! So...on to the other problems...