Car is electrically dead
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 101
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From: Abilene Texas
Car is electrically dead
Car is completely dead this morning. Nothing works, it is as though the battery has been removed. When I connected a battery charger to the terminals I got a few small sparks, the small dome light on the hood flashes and I can hear a relay chattering keeping in-time with the dome light. 
Any ideas?? 
Mike T
PS. The car has been running great and has not shown any signs of an impending problem. This is out of the blue.
Any ideas?? Mike T
PS. The car has been running great and has not shown any signs of an impending problem. This is out of the blue.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Remove the battery from the car. Charge the battery and then take it to an auto parts store and let them check it out. They need to load test it and see if it can maintain voltage under load.
My guess is that the battery is shorted! DO NOT try to operate the car on a battery charger only! Thats bad news for the electronics. You need a battery in the circuit to feed the electrical components pure DC. Some battery chargers have a little AC ripple on the DC voltage.
While the battery is out, clean the battery cable terminals and examine then for corrosion and damage.
BC
My guess is that the battery is shorted! DO NOT try to operate the car on a battery charger only! Thats bad news for the electronics. You need a battery in the circuit to feed the electrical components pure DC. Some battery chargers have a little AC ripple on the DC voltage.
While the battery is out, clean the battery cable terminals and examine then for corrosion and damage.
BC
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
From: Abilene Texas
Many thanks Bill
I replaced the battery from another vehicle and everything is normal. I can't beleive a battery can just fail like that with no prior signals. 61 and still learning... Again, many thanx for your help Bill.
Mike
Mike
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
No problem. Make sure that you torque the terminal bolts to 11 ft/lbs.
BC
