Ok, this is a royal pain in the ***..

My battery was dead this morning.. Not so dead that nothing works, but dead enough that I couldn't start the car - had to get a jump.. Alarm works, lights work, everything but starting it seemed to work... Once it got jumped, it was fine... I drove around for about 30 minutes and turned it off... a few hours later, dead again.... Jumped it again and drove around for about 45 minutes this time... turned it off.... after another hour or so, dead again... lights and alarm still work, but not the starter (probably needs too much juice to start it).. The last time I tried to start it, it was making MAD clicking sounds.. I figure that's just the starter realay freaking out.. *shrug* ??

Most of my buddies are saying it's the alternator, but how can I find out for sure?

Also, one of my friends said there was probably a short... I began unplugging all of the stuff I had recently put on (new head unit about a month ago), amps, etc, and fog lights.. I got out the trusty voltmeter and unplugged the - cable from the battery... The entire car was off and all doors were shut. Alarm was disabled. I checked the voltage from the - cable (connected to chassis) to the - terminal on the battery: 12v

So does that just mean 12v is being pulled across by the voltmeter, or does that mean something is pulling 12v across when I close the circuit (with the voltmeter), meaning there's a short???

HELP!

Thanks in advance!!

 

start the car and disconnect the battery, if the car dies then you have a charging problem(alternator, wiring, etc.)

 

ok, so I found out for sure it isn't the alternator... I measured the voltage across the battery when it was off: 12v. Then I measure the voltage across the battery when it was on: 13.8v.

I also turned on the headlights and pressed up on the power windows and they headlights dimmed.. this is normal for these cheap/weak alternators, plus all of the other lights were bright and the windows rolled up quickly like they should.

I was going to unplug the battery but I was pretty confident it isn't the alternator... this leaves the battery... so either the battery is messed up and won't recharge or there is a short somewhere..

So, how do I troubleshoot a short? Is there some way I can measure voltage and get 0 unless there is a short? No matter what fuse I unplugged (in the engine bay fuse box), I always got 12v from the chassis to the - terminal on the battery... is this normal or should I get 0v when the car is off? I even got 12v from the engine block to the - battery terminal... sheesh!!

this is confusing!!

 

your amps may be drawing too much current and the battery isnt charging properly. just turn off the amp during low rpm driving, like stop and go and see if your battery behaviour gets better.

 

well today (when the problem began) I have kept the head unit off entirely - which keeps the amps off...

any other ideas? I think I might have to drop it off at a shop tomorrow to have them look at it, because I just don't know how to diagnose this crap and it's irritating me!!!

 

just change you battery, you will be fine.....................

 

"after another hour or so, dead again... lights and alarm still work, but not the starter (probably needs too much juice to start it).. The last time I tried to start it, it was making MAD clicking sounds.. I figure that's just the starter realay freaking out.. *shrug* ??"

Ok, I'm not going to waste your time with little guesses..
You said that there were MAD clicks when you last tried starting the engine.. And as I recall from class, that clicking noise is from the Starter Solenoid.. It clicks on and off because the Hold In Coil inside the Solenoid isn't recieving Ground from the Starter..

Meaning your Starter isn't Grounding the Solenoid's Holding Coil.. And if that's the case, I believe I would check that Starter's Ground cable if it has one. And if no Ground Cable is present, I'd just get my trusty Hammer out and give the Starter a GooD WhAck.. If that solves the problem, the cause of your problem is Worn Carbon Brushes or Dirty Commutator or Slip Rings (can't remember what it's called)..

But anyways, I hop this sheds some light on your problem..

Oh and by the way.. Whenever you're dealing with an Elecrical Problem, you should get a wiring digram so that you can make sure that all your connections are CLEAN and TIGHT.. Sometimes stupid problems are cause by stupid little things like that..

Good Luck and Be Careful..

 

It's the frickin battery.

The clicking sound is the starter motor, if it clicks, it means the starter is good but there is not enough current flowing into the starter solenoid.