So I have a battery/alternator/starter issue?? Little help here guys
10-01-2011, 02:38 PM
#1
So I have a battery/alternator/starter issue?? Little help here guys So 3 different times over the past week my 04 has let me down trying to crank. The starter will just drag REALLY SLOW or nothing at all, but 99.9% of the time it fires up like it's a brand new battery. So I took it to O'Reilly's today for the 2nd time this week and had the battery/alternator/starter tested. The alternator tested 100% while running, the battery tested 13.8v when I turned it off, but when I went to crank it while testing the starter the voltage dropped from 13.8 to 7.5v but even tho it drug it fired up. I followed the guy's advice and check all my starter connections when I got home and jacked it up. Tight and no signs of cracked wires or anything....The starter itself was tight also, not like some LS starters I've read about loosening up. I've kept the "Battery Voltage" meter reading on the display all week and it's stayed between 13.5-14.2.....Any advice?? My logical reasoning tells me that it's the battery cranking amperage even tho it tested out and the battery is the cheapest route to start chasing gremlins.....04 with 122,xxx and the AC Delco battery is still there...(not sure if it's the factory one or not). Any advice on starters shorting out or loosing grounds???
10-01-2011, 02:48 PM
#2
TECH Enthusiast
If you decide to get a new battery, I'd look towards an Optima. I have one in my Miata, and it's NEVER let me down, even after leaving the ignition in the "on" position for over 9 hours... it still started without a hitch.
-meaty
-meaty
10-01-2011, 04:30 PM
#3
did this just start up (no pun, ha ha) doing this?
Any corrosion on the terminals (although sounds like you took it out to test)?
Are you running headers? May not be a big issue on the LS/Caddy's, but if you have the primaries (uncoated especially) running near the starter solenoid, it will cause a hard or no start condition when it gets to hot...solution besides ceramic coat/wrap is to run a "Ford Solenoid" (basically just a remote solenoid)...
Take it your battery is in stock location...if you moved it to the trunk, DC voltage drops quick over a long length...
Is there a way to test your cables, just to be sure there isn't excessive resistance or something?
I mean, it could just be the battery itself (esp if it's an AC special [hate those POS'
])...Do you drive this car a lot and/or drain the battery down a lot? Maybe get a home charger or a trickle charger (i.e. battery buddy), if you don't drive it a lot...Personally, I used to like Optimas, but the last one I had just drained down too quick; don't think they're as good as they used to be. but could be wrong...
One thing...be prepared for sticker shock on how much fricken batteries are nowadays!!! IIRC, a Group 78 works in our cars and is much cheaper than the oem group size, which is an oddball...the 78 (verify this is the right #) is about the same size, but just a little taller, but it fits...I ended up getting mine at NAPA, but almost went to sears as they had decent price, too...
Any corrosion on the terminals (although sounds like you took it out to test)?
Are you running headers? May not be a big issue on the LS/Caddy's, but if you have the primaries (uncoated especially) running near the starter solenoid, it will cause a hard or no start condition when it gets to hot...solution besides ceramic coat/wrap is to run a "Ford Solenoid" (basically just a remote solenoid)...
Take it your battery is in stock location...if you moved it to the trunk, DC voltage drops quick over a long length...
Is there a way to test your cables, just to be sure there isn't excessive resistance or something?
I mean, it could just be the battery itself (esp if it's an AC special [hate those POS'
])...Do you drive this car a lot and/or drain the battery down a lot? Maybe get a home charger or a trickle charger (i.e. battery buddy), if you don't drive it a lot...Personally, I used to like Optimas, but the last one I had just drained down too quick; don't think they're as good as they used to be. but could be wrong...One thing...be prepared for sticker shock on how much fricken batteries are nowadays!!! IIRC, a Group 78 works in our cars and is much cheaper than the oem group size, which is an oddball...the 78 (verify this is the right #) is about the same size, but just a little taller, but it fits...I ended up getting mine at NAPA, but almost went to sears as they had decent price, too...
10-01-2011, 05:01 PM
#4
It's still up on the jack stands now (since I had to stop working on it to help my daughter work on a school project). College football and Bud Light have now taken top spot on the priority list. I don't have headers and the from what part of the cables I can see there isn't any corrosion. There is ZERO corrosion on the terminals or battery itself ( honestly the cleanest that any of my cars have ever been.) The guy at the auto parts store went on a 15 minute spill about how LS motors are notorious for having the starter loosen up over time and especially if the car has been driven aggressively, blah blah blah...He then tries to look under the driver's side of the car for the starter...Apparently he knows his LS motors!
Yeah this is the first sign of any trouble I've had whatsoever in the electrical dept. I figure I completely drained the battery and maybe it doesn't have enough cranking amps to start the car consistently.....It has dropped into the 40's here this week, which I KNOW is HORRIBLE on batteries.
And OH YEAH I DRIVE IT A LOTTTT, I usually average about 5-6,000 miles a month.
Yeah this is the first sign of any trouble I've had whatsoever in the electrical dept. I figure I completely drained the battery and maybe it doesn't have enough cranking amps to start the car consistently.....It has dropped into the 40's here this week, which I KNOW is HORRIBLE on batteries.
And OH YEAH I DRIVE IT A LOTTTT, I usually average about 5-6,000 miles a month.
10-01-2011, 05:34 PM
#5
Ah, that's right...you were the one I was trying to think of who actually drove his CTS-V a lot! I thought I did, with ~20k a year, although that's finally dropped...If you have to drive, may as well do it in a cool car like these...Stupid a-hole dealer(s) was telling me when I was (stupidly) thinking about trading it in that my miles were excessive and these are specialty cars and none of the others had so many miles...Duh, you dip chit, I bought it to drive, duh...lol, those guys never seize to amaze.
Anyhow, sounds like you went thru most of the steps...I'd start thinking more about the battery (replacement) then...I had to replace mine a couple months ago and iirc, it was beginning to give signs (sporadic) then just didn't start at all. It was an AC junko too...The crappy part is the AC was not that old and should've been able to be prorated...but, unless you have a receipt (as in doesn't matter if it was done under warranty), they will not prorate or honor the warranty...Same thing with auto parts too though, so be sure to hang on to your receipt!
Anyhow, sounds like you went thru most of the steps...I'd start thinking more about the battery (replacement) then...I had to replace mine a couple months ago and iirc, it was beginning to give signs (sporadic) then just didn't start at all. It was an AC junko too...The crappy part is the AC was not that old and should've been able to be prorated...but, unless you have a receipt (as in doesn't matter if it was done under warranty), they will not prorate or honor the warranty...Same thing with auto parts too though, so be sure to hang on to your receipt!
10-01-2011, 06:42 PM
#7
Allen...New battery will be in by noon or so tomorrow...All depending on how bad BAMA beats Florida's *** and how late the after party goes on at the house.
JNR_...I drove an 04 Toyota Tacoma 4 door for the first year I had this job, and seeing that I'm 6'3"/225 I HATED the truck after about 2-3hours of any road trip. That and the SOB rattled so much that I actually broke the dash by kicking it with a size 15 on the way home from a 7 hour trip from Bristol. When I bought the car I had EVERYONE saying "I can't believe you're gonna drive that car and RUIN it like that"....."That's such a waste to drive that car that many miles", "I'd buy a Kia or something cheap". Well I thought about all of those options and after a 2 day discussion with my brother I came to this conclusion, "If you had the option to work ANY OFFICE/ENVIRONMENT in the world, what would you pick?? Stuffy cubicle with no view or excitement and an uncomfortable chair= Kia"....."Or would you rather go to work EVERYDAY in a strip club?? Yeah it's gonna cost a little more but who cares about that when you're having this much fun??" LMAO..CTS-V as a work car = Doing your boring office job from the comfort of a tittaaay bar
JNR_...I drove an 04 Toyota Tacoma 4 door for the first year I had this job, and seeing that I'm 6'3"/225 I HATED the truck after about 2-3hours of any road trip. That and the SOB rattled so much that I actually broke the dash by kicking it with a size 15 on the way home from a 7 hour trip from Bristol. When I bought the car I had EVERYONE saying "I can't believe you're gonna drive that car and RUIN it like that"....."That's such a waste to drive that car that many miles", "I'd buy a Kia or something cheap". Well I thought about all of those options and after a 2 day discussion with my brother I came to this conclusion, "If you had the option to work ANY OFFICE/ENVIRONMENT in the world, what would you pick?? Stuffy cubicle with no view or excitement and an uncomfortable chair= Kia"....."Or would you rather go to work EVERYDAY in a strip club?? Yeah it's gonna cost a little more but who cares about that when you're having this much fun??" LMAO..CTS-V as a work car = Doing your boring office job from the comfort of a tittaaay bar
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10-01-2011, 07:26 PM
#9
I applied and was approved for my tag......When it FINALLY arrived in the mail it was denied and they sent me a regular state tag and charged me the $50 extra vanity fee anyway. Said it was "suggestive in nature for obscene or vulgar language". RLLMFT (RollMuthaf$*$inTide)
10-02-2011, 09:47 AM
#10
Just saw a Tag on a supra today that said OMFGHP. I guess Florida is a little more lenient. It was a chick driving too.
Anyway, check the grounds also. There is one on the passenger side of the trunk behind the tail light that I've heard of causing problems.
Anyway, check the grounds also. There is one on the passenger side of the trunk behind the tail light that I've heard of causing problems.
10-02-2011, 01:59 PM
#11
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my issue was the one of the wires from the Alternator harness was contacting the Header. It would never drag on the start, but every once in a while (when the wire would hit the Header) the car would just lose all electrical power. And then pop right back on after a 3 to 7 seconds.
10-02-2011, 05:45 PM
#13
I just had to replace my battery yesterday....car gave me zero warning this was about to happen. Ran/cranked like a champ, drove for ten, parked for five....then, click,click,click nothing. Ive been through a few batteries in other cars but never seen one die this abruptly. I have a sneaking suspicion after reading your post that a combination of factors on our cars (vibration, electrical pull, grounding etc) causes some interesting stresses on our batteries resulting in what appears to be 'gremlins'. My car wouldnt even jump -- everything pointed to an alternator issue but i replaced the battery and everything was back to normal just like that. I agree that replacing the battery is a good place to start IMHO.
10-02-2011, 08:57 PM
#15
Well it was dead as HELL today when I tried to leave for the auto parts store. SO I rolled it off out of the garage and went to O'Reilly's and bought a new battery. This was after testing it for the 3rd time and this time it only showed 11.8v while running. It dropped to 4v when I attempted to restart and wouldn't crank at all. So it's fired up 4x without issue since replacing the battery. I guess time will tell if I have a more serious issue, but I figured this was the cheapest/easiest route to take in chasing down the problems. Thanks for all the input guys.....Rest assured if it presents more problems I'll be asking more Q's.
10-03-2011, 04:27 PM
#16
JNR_ Thanks for the heads up on the group 78 match up. They didn't have the right match for OEM and it was gonna be $149... group 78 was 1/4" taller and 1/2" wider with ALL specs matching for $96+ = $102 out the door. Day two and it's running like a charm. Once we got the old battery out of it's protective case you could see a bulge where I was told "it had plates inside touching, and it ran the risk of leaking or burning up".
10-03-2011, 06:55 PM
#18
Glad it worked out and yeah it's nice to save $$ too! Our oem size is an oddball and hard(er) to find + more expensive...The only thing I forgot to mention and it's probably not a big deal, is the factory battery cover won't fit right (too short), but I just removed mine.
10-03-2011, 08:59 PM
#19
Glad it worked out and yeah it's nice to save $$ too! Our oem size is an oddball and hard(er) to find + more expensive...The only thing I forgot to mention and it's probably not a big deal, is the factory battery cover won't fit right (too short), but I just removed mine.
