I have a battery that won't hold a charge. Took it to the auto parts and put a load tester on it. Parts guy said the battery wasn't the best but lets start the car and put a meter at the alternator. We got 14.25-14.75v at the alternator and 13-13.25v at the battery. Parts guy says looks like a wiring problem, alt. is putting out but its not getting to the battery.

Ok, so go home and clean up the ground from batt. to the frame. Its in great shape and spotless now. Cleaned the alternator wiring/contacts up good too, but when I removed the clip I got some sparks. Couldn't mess with the starter wiring yet till car cools off.

Ok, so now I figure I want to try to run it real quick and put the meter on the alt. and the battery just to see what the #s are. Crank it up, the alt. reads 14.75v. Battery reads 12v, so now I have nothing at the batt. from the alternator at idle. Getting frustrated..... Shut car off for a couple minutes check alt./batt. wires and figured I'd try one last time. Go to fire it up nothing, nothing at all. No buzzers no starter, nothing. Now I'm really disappointed and frustrated. Gotta quit for today......

Now wondering if the sparks from the alt. clip might have cooked some wiring like at the starter or elsewhere. Anyway, I'd appreciate some advice, suggestions or other insight if you care to reply. Thanks for looking!!

suggestions and or advice

 

I still think it's your battery. I have had more than one battery test good but that wouldn't hold a charge. I replaced the battery and had no more issues.

Tip: If you have a dead battery it's always best to slowly charge it before driving the car. If the battery charges at full alternator output it can seriously affect the battery.

 

That happened to me, after 2 days of tracing wires I found the fusable link at the bottom of the fuse box on the firewall (engine side) was cooked. Replaced with some fusable link wire from N.A.P.A. and viola. I hope this isn't your problen because it is the mother of a job. Good luck

 

Its not the battery, The wire from the alternator to the battery for charging has a problem. It runs from the alternator down and inside the frame on the drivers side to the battery box and then into the battery box to a terminal block and then from there to the battery +.
Follow that wire and you will find your problem. There is likely a bad splice or a crimp connector at the terminal block.
If it was the battery, the only thing that would cause a 2.75v drop on that wire is a Huge charge current going into the battery which would fry that wire very quickly

 

Well, being that the battery is old in the first place, I will be replacing that today. I also need to clean the connections up at the starter.

SIXFOOTER -- Not sure we're on the same page here. There are only 2 wires in the batt. comp. A Neg. and a Pos. Neg. goes to ground on a cross member approx. under the rear of drivers seat. The Pos. runs the length of the car to the starter. AIM shows NO breaks in the Pos. cable. I understand what you are saying though. I thought of that myself due to the decent voltage drop. From what I can see and what the AIM shows me all power stems from the block at the starter, unless I am missing a page or overlooked one. I'm gonna go clean the connections at the starter real good and then see if I can find anything from there.

Can anybody further explain/expand on this subject ??

Thanks for the replies so far!