Battery ? Help
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Joined: Feb 2014
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Battery ? Help
Hello to all. My 1986 is having some problems. Have a 3 year old Autocraft Gold battery in it. I did a resto of the interior after I bought it 1.5 years ago and challenged the battery several times during the process. It also has aftermarket (which I'd love to rid myself of) security system with VATS disabled. That is some of the history. Symtoms now. The car will start several times in a day. One time however it will just not turn over, but all dash and radio etc function. Seemingly, but not sure, the battery is still charged. If I jump it it will take about a minute or two and it cranks right over fast and starts. Even though maybe 15 seconds prior to that I tried it and nothing. Meaning there is no point at which it turns over very slow as if the battery was slowly charging up. Like it gets to a certain level of charge and boom it starts. Another symptom is once in awhile I will turn the key and there is a second or so delay before the starter engages. The cables on the top side are clean. Should I just start with a new battery or should I be looking elsewhere? Thank you very much.
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Joined: Sep 2003
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Hello to all. My 1986 is having some problems. Have a 3 year old Autocraft Gold battery in it. I did a resto of the interior after I bought it 1.5 years ago and challenged the battery several times during the process. It also has aftermarket (which I'd love to rid myself of) security system with VATS disabled. That is some of the history. Symtoms now. The car will start several times in a day. One time however it will just not turn over, but all dash and radio etc function. Seemingly, but not sure, the battery is still charged. If I jump it it will take about a minute or two and it cranks right over fast and starts. Even though maybe 15 seconds prior to that I tried it and nothing. Meaning there is no point at which it turns over very slow as if the battery was slowly charging up. Like it gets to a certain level of charge and boom it starts. Another symptom is once in awhile I will turn the key and there is a second or so delay before the starter engages. The cables on the top side are clean. Should I just start with a new battery or should I be looking elsewhere? Thank you very much.
Your actual solution to the problem comes after that and I wouldn't rush to judgment on any of the other systems yet. I believe that any shop that just insists that they can do the load test "NOW" might be avoided. The battery requires a controlled charge.
A 3 year old battery is a possible warranty. The battery will have a date code on it that can be used to determine age. If you've an invoice it could be a plus but likely not necessary.
