Yeah... not free but cheaper than replacing batteries and parts that you think might be bad. I think it's under $50.

 

I just went outside and put my alternator back on. I hooked my battery back up and the hood light came on and looked bright. Got in my car, all the lights were on and doing fine. Turned the key on and everything was working like normal...I could hear the fuel pump run. Turned the key and it made a noise like it was going to start (like the starter kicked) and then nothing. Everything went dead and I could hear a clicking coming from the fuse box in the passenger side floor board. This has happened to me before. The last time this happened, I went and got a new battery. That worked fine for a while until that battery went dead and wouldn't recharge.

 

Have you had any water leaks? There have been lots of this too. The A/C drain backs up and water comes through the ducting on to the passenger's side footwell. Underneath the mat there's an access panel with a computer under it. If this gets wet you'll have all sorts of problems. Check it out!! Let us know we'll get to the bottom of this sooner or later. You did check for battery leaking! There's a computer under the battery that gets toasted if the battery leaks. Keep us posted.

 

Ironically enough, a couple months ago I did notice a small amount of water under the passenger carpet when I was adding some sound deadening material but it wasn't really close to the fuse box...more like around where the front of the seat is and that bend in the tunnel. This problem has been going on way longer than when I noticed the water though. It was more of a moist spot too in about a 10" circle. My AC doesn't have any freon in it though. It needs to be charged. Just from looking at a few of the grounds (2 by the headlights, 1 by the battery), they appear to be fine and look very clean.

 

Here's a little more info. on my batteries in a PM I sent to Bill Curlee:

I have put about 5 or 6 walmart batteries with warranty in my car since this began. The first battery I got was a dud for sure...wouldn't do anything, they tested it and it was no good. 2nd battery, I took it in after a couple of days and they tested it; guy said it was probably ok but to tell the cashier it was no good because a battery shouldn't go dead that fast, so I got a new one. The others batteries seemed to be ok but after a while they would be dead and wouldn't recharge. Two batteries before the one I have now-I took my car to get it detailed and after the guy was done, he called me and said my car wouldn't do anything. I put a new battery in it and it was fine.

 

I would be checking the computer multi-pin connectors by disconnecting them and making sure there is no corrosion. Many times you can look at these connections and they appear to be fine, until you disconnect them and find out what's hiding in there. The computer under the battery and the computer under the passenger's footwell. Disconnect the battery before doing it though. There's definitely a bad connection somewhere and since these computer run just about everything in the car they are a great place to start. And once there you may find other areas that you can examine more thoroughly. It could also be a bad starter. Does everything work great until you start the car. Can you play the stereo, open and close windows, honk the horn, etc.?

 

I just checked the 2 grounds next to the headlights. The connectors were very clean.

 

After reading this! I have had my experiences with batteries. I have learned a couple of things over the years regarding these power cells. One is don't buy a cheap battery and expect expensive battery performance. Another is that alternators maintain a good battery so that it will perform as required. Alternators are not battery chargers and are not designed to charge dead batteries for very long before they too will fail. Even with brand new batteries I will charge it for 24 hours on a trickle charge to get the battery up to it's full potential. If they are off the shelf and put in the car they are in a discharged state and now you're relying on the alternator to bring it up. And if your just booting around town and stop and start that just won't make it. If this is how your battery comes into it's life it will not perform or last like it should throughout it's life.

Back in '76 I bought a brand new Camaro and drove it home. The next morning I took the car apart to undercoat it. It was the thing to do back then if you didn't want to see your car turn into a puddle of rust in a couple of years. Well after having the doors open for about 3 hours the car wouldn't start. Sounds like your detailing dude!! I charged the battery and away I went. But the battery was brand new But not charged fully so it wouldn't last. There's my .02 on batteries for what it's worth. Maybe take the battery out and put it on charge over night and see what happens in the morning. If everything is OK that's your problem. Let us know.

Note: These cars if left for a week to 3 weeks will drain the battery. There are computers on board that suck power even when the car is sitting doing nothing. And if your battery is not at it's peak that time can be cut in half or more. Walmart batteries? What brand battery? No name brand? Sometimes buying an expensive battery is worth more than all the aggrevation that goes along with a cheap one. It is a learning experience though.

 

The battery I have is an EverStart Maxx-1N (1000 cranking amps) from Walmart. I got this battery because there was one in the car when I got it (which was dead) and it had a warranty on it. So I took it back and they gave me another one for free. Maybe they are just crappy batteries but it shouldv'e lasted more than a couple of hours. How much are those redtop batteries?

 

Another Update:
I just went out and hooked up my battery to see what the DIC would show for voltage. It showed 12.1 volts so I tried to start it and it started right up. After a couple of seconds the voltage went up to 14.6 and stayed there. I turned on my radio, blinker, and headlights and it would go down to about 14.3 but still good. I don't get it. I shut it off and it read 12.1 volts again and started right up. I went ahead and unhooked it so it doesn't have a chance to drain it overnight and I guess we'll see what happens in the morning. I had huge intentions of driving it tomorrow because it's supposed to be around 70 here in MO.

 

If you have a trickle charger hook it up overnight. Sometimes these detail guys like playing the radio for a couple of hours. That will without a doubt run down a battery. Keep us posted. If you ever see 11.75 volts on the DIC before you start your battery is toast. Anything below that shows a battery that can't hold a charge.

 

Did you at least hook some kind of power source to maintain the car's memory and all? There is a chance you might have a headache from after doing this. If your car kills a battery over night that is charged, you have a short somewhere (as stated in an earlier post) Get the thing started and over to autozone. They do a free test to check the starter, charging system, and battery.

Since you have the battery disconnected, I w/ stockman and would follow his advice about checking the connectors to the computers.

 

Well I went out this morning and hooked my battery back up. The DIC showed 11.7 volts. Tried to start it and it made that starter kick noise. Everything went dead so I unhooked the battery and hooked it back up a couple times and it wouldn't do anything....no lights, no anything.

 

It sounds like you have something shorting to ground draining the battery. Have you had anything electrical done to the car lately. Maybe sound system upgrade. Work done elsewhere in the car? Door skins removed? If you had they may have pinched a wire on installing whatever they did. Many here have had stereo system cause this kind of failure.
I just re-read your post. If you had the battery disconnected from the car and hopfully connected to a battery charger then your battery is toast. Even if it wasn't hooked to a charger it should have maintained it's charge. If Wally world replaces these batteries without any hesitation this should tell you that they have lots of rejects. Buy a brand name battery that is proven to handle what it's designed for. Redtop is a well liked battery around here. And buy a charger while your at it. Over the years it will get more use than you could imagine. At least a battery tender to keep your batteries in good condition while not being used. Cheaper than replacing batteries that are not properly maintained.

 

I had my radio out about a month ago to change the hazard switch but this has been going on way longer than that. I didn't have the battery on a charger last night...the charger is at my grandpa's farm and I had other things to do so I couldn't make it down there. I agree that it should've held its charge. This sucks because it is unbelievable outside today. I saw a black C6 Z06 this morning so it didn't help that I was driving a 94 Buick Century. Where can I get one of those redtop batteries? What's the actual brand of it...Optima? What does a battery tender do?

 

It is the Optima Redtop. The battery tender is a sort of micro charger. It applies a small amount of current to keep your battery at full charge. They are great for winter storage of a battery. You can hook it up to the battery while still installed in the car. Or out of the car. They are much better than leaving the battery to discharge and then hook up a charger to bring the battery back to life. Car batteries like to be kept at full charge all the time. If discharged completely to many times they will never come back to optimum reliability. There are a few brand names of battery tender's I have the "Battery Minder" it works great. I've had it for 3 years and use it on all my batteries.

 

Optima red top. Bought mine at Autozone for about $100. I use the 34/75. It works fine. The 34/78 will also work and has more cranking amps. Get this one if you have a monster of a stereo in the car or a lot of extra little electronic goodies.

 

I decided to go out and play around with it some more. I left the ground hooked up and was scratching at the positive on the battery with the hot wire and it would spark and occasionally get the hood light to come on. The more I messed with it, I could get the hood light to stay on by holding the bolt in the hot wire to the positive post. I finally got the hood light to stay on while the hot was connected and looked at the DIC and it showed 11.7. The car started, not like a champ, but it started. So I took it down the road and it held around 14.6-14.7. After a few minutes I turned the radio on and it held a consistent 14.4. When I got home I shut it off, turned the key back on and it showed 12.5. Started right up. Shut it off and 12.5 (12.3 after about 10 seconds but stayed there). Started right up again.

 

I just got back from my "nice day cruise" and no problems whatsoever. The voltage stayed at 14.4 the whole time. I shut it off once and it sat for probably an hour and a half, went out to the car and it showed 12.3 on the DIC before I started it. Hopefully, it will be fine now. Should I disconnect the battery if I end up not driving it for a while? What do you recommend?

 

My wife had the same problem. I took the positive off of the battery and found it had corrosion on it. I used a brass brush on it and cleaned it right up. A film builds up on the side post terminals and if you check out the bolt that goes into the battery you can dig in there and find corrosion. Baking soda and water mixture should clean it right out. Lets hope this is your problem. An easy fix.