Starting issues?
12-29-2011, 12:48 PM
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Starting issues? Hey guys, having a problem with the T.A. The other night I drove to work, the car sat for 10 hours, started right back up and I drove home. The battery was reading that it was charged so I didnt think there was an issue. The next morning I go out to start the car and its completely dead? I have had people tell me it's the alternator, but even in park I'm not losing any power on the gauge. I have checked the battery cables and there are no signs of corrosion of any sort and they are attached to the battery properly. The only thing that has been changed lately as far as electrical items go is I installed an Autometer triple gauge pod with Phantom 2's but I'm being told that shouldnt be an issue as they are LED lit and therefore they draw less juice, so I'm kind of stumped on this one. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
12-29-2011, 05:14 PM
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Jump start car. Measure voltage. 14 volts alt is good. 12 volts and alt is not putting power out. Killing battery takes a toll on it so may want to consider replacing it. An alternator that has to charge dead batteries will overheat... Hence why a lot of shops replace both for reliability and to prevent come backs.....
12-29-2011, 06:39 PM
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Thanks for the input, its over 14 and stays over it unless im in reverse, then it drops to about 13, so if what you say is correct then my alternator is good, just something draining somewhere else?
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12-30-2011, 01:18 PM
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alright, new update, got in the car this morning for the first time since Christmas Eve when it failed to start and it started right up. Everything was looking good until i turned it off. i started the car back up 20 minutes later but it started very weak. I then drove to the other place I needed to be. i was in there for 5 minutes, came back out, and the car turned over, but then died. I went to start it again and again it started very weakly. As I was driving, i pull up to a light and I notice my oil pressure is at 20psi? My car usually doesn't ever go that low. Could it be something connected that is effecting both? I'm just not going to drive the car anymore until I figure this out. Any advice helps!
12-31-2011, 11:40 AM
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so I had a thought yesterday at work and I gave my buddy a call to ask him where he ran the ground for the gauges as the car didn't start screwing up until after we installed them. He said he ran it in to the back of the light switch where he ran the power line.......I dont know anything about electrical stuff but common sense tells me thats wrong....maybe this is why I'm having issues?
12-31-2011, 11:46 AM
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It either needs to be a solid contact body ground or to a OEM ground line that leads to body/battery. Unhook the positive side of whatever he wired and see if that fixes issue.
FYI make sure wiring/grounds are right. Electrical fires don't take much and your car will be gone in a spark. People are skeptical about doing brakes for safety reasons. I'd rather have bad brakes than burn up / be overcome by plastic burning fumes in a car fire....
FYI make sure wiring/grounds are right. Electrical fires don't take much and your car will be gone in a spark. People are skeptical about doing brakes for safety reasons. I'd rather have bad brakes than burn up / be overcome by plastic burning fumes in a car fire....
12-31-2011, 11:50 AM
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Thanks It either needs to be a solid contact body ground or to a OEM ground line that leads to body/battery. Unhook the positive side of whatever he wired and see if that fixes issue.
FYI make sure wiring/grounds are right. Electrical fires don't take much and your car will be gone in a spark. People are skeptical about doing brakes for safety reasons. I'd rather have bad brakes than burn up / be overcome by plastic burning fumes in a car fire....
FYI make sure wiring/grounds are right. Electrical fires don't take much and your car will be gone in a spark. People are skeptical about doing brakes for safety reasons. I'd rather have bad brakes than burn up / be overcome by plastic burning fumes in a car fire....
01-03-2012, 09:04 PM
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Ok, oil pressure is back to normal, just needed an oil change is all, as far as the starting issue goes, I got a new battery today and said screw the Optima as it would not keep the car running if my life depended on it. Had the alternator tested at three different places and they all say it's good, so if the car is dead again in the morning I'm going to start looking for where the power is leaking from.
01-03-2012, 09:18 PM
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Sounds good.
The Optima is a good battery but does not like to sit. Off the Battery Tender mine will crank slowwwwww after 2 weeks. I promise mine has no draws non-factory. Thankfully mine is rarely off the Tender lol.
I like Autozone batteries and Interstate batteries for my dd's...
The Optima is a good battery but does not like to sit. Off the Battery Tender mine will crank slowwwwww after 2 weeks. I promise mine has no draws non-factory. Thankfully mine is rarely off the Tender lol.
I like Autozone batteries and Interstate batteries for my dd's...
01-04-2012, 06:13 PM
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well I got in the car this morning after it froze here last night and it started right up with no hesitation, so I'm assuming I'm not having a major draw anywhere...my car just doesnt like Optima Red Tops I guess
01-04-2012, 10:37 PM
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well thats the thing, my car wouldnt start when I drove it for 30 minutes and then it was off for like an hour, after the initial start on the last battery (which the initial start wasnt too great either) it would have that issue, with the new battery I'm not having even a hiccup, so I dont really think its a draw, I just think its the stupid optima
01-05-2012, 09:32 AM
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Not the first time I've heard of Optimas crapping out, though I'm sure it's not a common thing. I'm just glad we didn't find anything in the oil filter, though it's odd pressure would drop that much without anything obvious in the filter. I'd still like to take a look behind the dash to see exactly how the gauges are hooked up. While tying into the light switch ground isn't "bad", there's just so many better areas to get a direct ground behind the dash that it's simple to do it that way.