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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-
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Battery not keeping charge

  • Thread starter Thread starter jermy82
  • Start date Start date Dec 26, 2004

jermy82

Founding Member
Feb 2, 2002
446
0
0
Sherman, Illinois
Dec 26, 2004
#1
  • Dec 26, 2004
  • #1
So my battery is only about 2 months old. I left my lights on the other night and of course, it was totally dead in the morning. I had a friend come by and give me a jump. It took about 10 minutes of idling/revving to get it to crank enough to start. I drove to a gas station by about 15 minutes away and shut off the car without thinking about it, and when I went to start it, it was totally dead again. I thought I just hadn't let the battery charge up again enough, so had to get another jump. I had to let the other car idle for about 20 minutes this time to be able to start the car. Drove home, same thing again yada yada, but this time I let the car idle for about an hour to remove any doubt in my mind that the battery was fully charged. The second I turned it off, everything in the car was dead, not even the dome light would turn on.
This just seems kinda weird to me. I don't see why my battery wouldn't hold a charge, and my alternator was working fine, so I don't see why leaving my lights on would screw my alternator. Any one know which it is or have a similar problem? I'll go get them tested tomorrow I guess, but I would like to know if it's just my battery so I could just take that out and save myself the hassle if possible. Sorry so long for a seemingly simple question. Thanks.
 
W

wytstang

Mustang Master
Mar 14, 2004
4,988
4
78
Summerville,SC missing South Fl. weather :(
Dec 26, 2004
#2
  • Dec 26, 2004
  • #2
Damn I need a drink after reading your post . If you have a volt meter you can check your alt. at home. Just get the car started and put the volt meter to the battery and see if it reads at least 14.2 volts. any thing lower than 14.00 means the alt is not charging.
 

AznStanger3v

Active Member
Aug 11, 2003
2,026
0
47
Northern VA
Dec 26, 2004
#3
  • Dec 26, 2004
  • #3
check your alternator. if it isnt f'ed up, then you f'ed up your battery when you ran it dry
 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
31,179
33
129
Dec 26, 2004
#4
  • Dec 26, 2004
  • #4
a battery should have a static charge of ~12.6 volts. at 2K rpm look for 14.5 volts or so.
getting it checked out is best. you can pull your battery and or alt and have them bench/load tested.

charging a dead battery with the alternator is very hard on the alternator. a dead cell in a battery will inhibit the alt's ability to charge.

good luck.
 

RIO5.0

15 Year Member
Feb 16, 2001
6,892
8
128
N.H.
Dec 26, 2004
#5
  • Dec 26, 2004
  • #5
As wytstang stated...do his test..its way easy and will tell if the alts putting out to charge your battery....if that checks out while running...

2nd...clean the terminals and re-connect them....follow your NEG back to the motor mount and make sure that looks good....check the Green ground bolt right there at the battery on the body...make sure that looks good....sometimes a bad connection/ground wont allow the battery to properly charge...doing exacltly what your seeing...
 
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