PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Not a Honda but who cares, charging systems all work the same.

My bro is having a problem w/ his 96 Ford Ranger. He said he went out this morning and the lights worked, but when he turned the key, he heard a single click and then the lights went out. He thought the new battery cables that we installed a few weeks ago were loose, so he tried to tighten those up, tried again and same thing (lights worked, then went out upon trying to start).

So I said the battery is probably either low or dead, or the alternator isn't charging the battery. I told him to try to jump start it and see what happened. He said he jumped it and it started fine, ran it for about 30 minutes, then tried to start it again and it would not start, however the lights still worked.

So since it ran for awhile and yet still would not start afterwards, but the lights still worked, it leads me to believe the alternator is not charging the battery, and the battery does not have enough power to turn the starter, but can still power the lights.

Is it possible for the battery to have had enough power to run the engine for 30 minutes but not enough power to start it? What do you all think?

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

nobody has any knowledge of charging systems?

acy76

If the alternator were bad, I doubt it could have been running for 30 minutes on a mostly-dead battery(battery light would be on if the alt. weren't charging, too..). The battery is probably just worn out; a shop could verify this for you with a load test for a few bucks. Also, be sure the battery connections are clean and tight.

ross73

Something similar happened to me. My car ran on the battery for about 20 min and then when i shut it off it didnt start, had to replace the alternator.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by acy76 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the alternator were bad, I doubt it could have been running for 30 minutes on a mostly-dead battery(battery light would be on if the alt. weren't charging, too..). The battery is probably just worn out; a shop could verify this for you with a load test for a few bucks. Also, be sure the battery connections are clean and tight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well what made me think that it probably needs a new alternator is the fact that it started with a jump start, and was able to run (which means the battery had some charge, just not enough to start it), but then after shutting it off, it would not start again, which indicates to me that the alternator didn't charge the battery at all.

As for the idiot lights and guages (has a volt meter in the cluster), he doesn't pay attention to those.

b20turbojason

it doesn't always have to be the alternator not chargeing the battery. it could be that the battery is not holding the charge that the alternator is giving it. i would test the battery. i have worked on a lot of motors over the past 10 years and i haven't replaced but one or two alternators. it has always been the battery that was the problem.

HFP

Load test on the battery, will tell you what is going on.........

non-VTEC

sounds like the battery is toast. probably has a bad cell and its not holding a full charge.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

maybe... when we replaced the battery cable connectors a few weeks ago (yes they are still tight, he made sure of that), while the battery was out we noticed the water in it was very low, so my dad filled it up. We're taking it to AutoZone this evening for them to check it out.

JimBlake

Do you know whether the battery lost fluid all at once, or maybe over a long period of time? Sudden loss usually means the battery is going bad.

I had one just suddenly wouldn't hold a charge. That was 3 years ago & my alternator is still going good. Trouble was, the battery just quit holding a charge; after turning off the engine the battery would be dead within a few hours.

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Okay now we're really stumped.

Went over to my bro's apt. last night to check it out. He had the hood open, but no lights were on (it has an underhood light). When the positive cable was wiggled, the light would come on. So he tries to start it, *CLICK* and everything goes out again.

So then we try to jump start it, as soon as the cables are connected the hood light comes back on, and it starts up fine. Okay so we were going to drive it to AutoZone to have them check it out, as soon as he turns the headlights on, everything dies (engine, lights, everything).

Well WTF... so we pull the battery out and take it to AutoZone. The battery's water is completely full in all cells, and the battery checks out as GOOD and FULLY CHARGED on their testing machine.

So now we have no clue, other than the fact that when I previously cut off the old battery clamps to install new ones, the cables had ALOT of corrosion on them, and I mean tons, extending way back up into the cable... I dipped the bare ends of the cables into a mixture of water and baking soda to try to clean them off, but maybe there is some corrosion/acid up in those cables and causing alot of resistance... any other ideas?

JimBlake

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... when I previously cut off the old battery clamps to install new ones, the cables had ALOT of corrosion on them, and I mean tons, extending way back up into the cable... I dipped the bare ends of the cables into a mixture of water and baking soda to try to clean them off, but maybe there is some corrosion/acid up in those cables and causing alot of resistance... any other ideas?</TD></TR></TABLE>Sounds like you already know what the trouble is...

You might just have to scrap those cables alltogether. If they're that bad, you can spend all day cleaning & tightening, then tomorrow it'll be bad again. Besides, the other end of each cable is probably just as bad.

murtnabila

should've had autozone check your whole charging system w/ everything still in the car. But I would replace the wires regardless and see if that's not your problem first.