Roger Heim <rheim10@optonline.net> wrote:
[...]
> At first I thought I blew a fuse but then I started thinking the battery
> gave out (it's about 3 years old.) But don't batteries slowly fade away
> until one day they don't have enough amps to crank?
> Anyone got any thoughts about where to look first?
Hi Roger,
The battery would be my primary suspect. Although a battery can
fade over time, it is really, really common for them to just go
without warning. Could be a cell shorted out, etc. What you are
describing sounds like a bad battery or a bad connection at the
battery to me. I had a similar situation in my Jeep Cherokee; I
thought the battery was starting to go on me, as it would sometimes
not start the vehicle. I had one of those quick disconnect negative
battery terminals on there, and come to find out, it had broken, and
was causing an unreliable connection. A similar thing recently
happened to my '70 Dart, except this was corrosion inside the positive
battery terminal connector. Had enough power to run the dash lights,
headlights, etc. but everything would go dead when I turned the key.
I was fortunate enough to notice some crackling noises at the battery
terminal, so I took the connector apart, cleaned out the corrosion,
and the car fired right up.) Something like that could be the problem,
where the electrical path from the vehicle to the battery is just too
small to carry the amperage required, but the odds are also extremely
good that the battery itself just bought the farm.
Stick a multimeter on it and see what it says; if its 10v or less,
that's your answer, but even if the multimeter gives you a good
reading (12.5v or so), that doesn't clear the battery just yet - it
needs to have a load test done. If you don't have a load tester (you
can pick them up for $20 or so from time to time), a parts store will
usually perform a load test for you for free.
Good luck with it! I think you'll find that its the battery; let
us know how it turns out...
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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