Battery Help
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 182
Likes: 1
From: Metairie Louisiana
Battery Help
Hey Guys,
I have an 87 Vette that I purchased 3 weeks ago. Car has a new battery and now the battery is dead. It is a Sears Red Top battery in warranty, so I tried to charge the battery just to get the car to Sears. The battery charger keeps charging and stopping in 1 minute intervals. Any ideas of what is causing this? Thanks in advance
I have an 87 Vette that I purchased 3 weeks ago. Car has a new battery and now the battery is dead. It is a Sears Red Top battery in warranty, so I tried to charge the battery just to get the car to Sears. The battery charger keeps charging and stopping in 1 minute intervals. Any ideas of what is causing this? Thanks in advance
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,564
Likes: 6
From: Woodstock Georgia
Originally Posted by my87vet
Hey Guys,
I have an 87 Vette that I purchased 3 weeks ago. Car has a new battery and now the battery is dead. It is a Sears Red Top battery in warranty, so I tried to charge the battery just to get the car to Sears. The battery charger keeps charging and stopping in 1 minute intervals. Any ideas of what is causing this? Thanks in advance
I have an 87 Vette that I purchased 3 weeks ago. Car has a new battery and now the battery is dead. It is a Sears Red Top battery in warranty, so I tried to charge the battery just to get the car to Sears. The battery charger keeps charging and stopping in 1 minute intervals. Any ideas of what is causing this? Thanks in advance
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 182
Likes: 1
From: Metairie Louisiana
Originally Posted by aminnich
The charger is cycling because it is overloading (ie too small for the job) is my guess. Also could be the battery is shorted out internally. Disconnect ground cable and see if it does same. If so possibly shorted battery, if not either 1 above or serious short in primary battery cables. Do you have an aftermarket alarm or idea what drained the battery?
I don't have an aftermarket alarm, but not sure if they had one before I purchased it. I was going to take the battery out and bring it to Sears. Looks like the Crusise control and a support are mounted over battery and need to be removed to get battery out. Is there anything I need to be careful of or any special procedure when removing battery?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,884
Likes: 3
From: Magnolia Mississippi
St. Jude '03-'04-'05-'06-'07
No, remove the side panel next to the battery and slide out the side, there is one bolt between the panel and the bottom skirt (do not remove, just loosen), bolt on top by door jam and inside wheel well...
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 182
Likes: 1
From: Metairie Louisiana
Originally Posted by vinnies87
No, remove the side panel next to the battery and slide out the side, there is one bolt between the panel and the bottom skirt (do not remove, just loosen), bolt on top by door jam and inside wheel well...
I see three screws on panel that connect to wheel well and one top bolt by door jam. So am I supposed to remove the three screws on the wheel well and loosen the top bolt?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,261
Likes: 9
From: sonoma ca
Originally Posted by my87vet
I see three screws on panel that connect to wheel well and one top bolt by door jam. So am I supposed to remove the three screws on the wheel well and loosen the top bolt?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 182
Likes: 1
From: Metairie Louisiana
I got it out and had it tested, only had 5 volts and will not hold a charge. I'm going to bring it to Sears tomorrow for a replacement. Thanks for all the help, this is a great forum!
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Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
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From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
A totally dead battery draws so much current from a charger at first that it may cause the thermal self reset circuit breaker in the charger to trip. Also, a battery with one or more shorted cells (even with all the good cells fully charged) will continuously draw excessive charging current also causing the chargers circuit breaker to continue to trip.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,263
Likes: 0
From: CV ca
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13
Originally Posted by jfb
A totally dead battery draws so much current from a charger at first that it may cause the thermal self reset circuit breaker in the charger to trip. Also, a battery with one or more shorted cells (even with all the good cells fully charged) will continuously draw excessive charging current also causing the chargers circuit breaker to continue to trip.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 182
Likes: 1
From: Metairie Louisiana
Got the battery to Sears for a replacement, only took two hours 
Hooked up the new battery and started it up. I did notice a fusible link like what is used for an aftermarket stereo or alarm system, but the car has neither. I left the fusible link disconnected and the car runs fine, voltage at 14.4 and no drop. I guess the previous owner removed whatever it was but left the wires intact. I dropped off the car for at a freinds shop for a fuel injection cleaning and asked him to check the electrical system, so hope that does the trick.
Hooked up the new battery and started it up. I did notice a fusible link like what is used for an aftermarket stereo or alarm system, but the car has neither. I left the fusible link disconnected and the car runs fine, voltage at 14.4 and no drop. I guess the previous owner removed whatever it was but left the wires intact. I dropped off the car for at a freinds shop for a fuel injection cleaning and asked him to check the electrical system, so hope that does the trick.