mindreaper

iTrader: (1)

Hi everyone,

I've put on my '99 Camaro a new maintenance free battery that's been sitting on the shelves for about 6 months. I haven't charged it, hoping that it would charge as I drive it. It shows a voltage of 12.44 volts which I guess means it's charged about 60%... but absolutely nothing happens when I turn the ignition key on... no lights on the dash, no headlights, no stereo, nothing at all!

I guess I'll have to put the battery on charge, but I find it weird there's not even dim lights appearing with a battery that's far from being flat. Is this normal on our cars?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

That's not normal. Something else is wrong, disconnected, or blown.

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

Im not sure why you think a 12 volt battery showing 12.4 volts in not fully charged? You have connection problems somewhere.

mindreaper

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, that's what I was thinking... I'm gonna look into what could be the cause.

A fully charged maintenance free battery (Ca/Ca) should read about 12.77 volts when it's 100% charged, 12.54 volts when it's 75% charged, 12.29 volts at 50%, 11.99 volts at 25%. It should be checked with a multimeter after the battery has been resting several hours, not right after charging/driving.

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

Thats splitting hairs. 12.4 is fully charged and not all batteries or testers will read the same. Its more than enough to start the car as long as all cells are good.

N20zuki

Are you checking voltage when you turn the key on? To see if it cant handle a load due to a bad cell?

What made you change the battery? Were you having issues prior to replacing the battery?

mindreaper

iTrader: (1)

Problem solved! It was indeed a bad connection at the positive pole of the battery. Thanks to you all for your help!

McGinnis

In a perfect world a fully charged car battery should be at or slightly above 12.8 volts, a strong battery would still start at 12.4v easily as long as the cells are good, might crank a hair slower but it should start fine nonetheless . Glad it was just a connection issue, chasing electrical gremlins is no fun.