My 95 GT wouldn't start this afternoon, and the battery is less than 1 year old. I put a DMM across the terminals and read 11.7 volts.
However, the guage in the dash is leaning heavily towards 8. So it seems that the car thinks it has a dead battery.
When I try to start, I get the bad solenoid sound - rapid clicking. I'm expecting that the problem is in the connections going to the starter / solenoid. But the low voltage reading on the dash lead me to wonder where the battery gauge reads from for the dash.
anybody know?
While I was pondering the problem this afternoon I borrowed the wife's car and drove to a local auto parts store for a battery charger (with 75amp jumping ability). Upon return I was able to jump the car, which I then allowed to sit on charger for several hours.
I'll have to do a more thorough inspection later to determine why the battery lost so much charge sitting in the garage for 36 hours doing nothing. I suspect I may be on the verge of finding yet another electrical gremlin in my car. sigh...