Dead Battery? Maybe not

[ArtH]

In all the years that I have been working on cars, worked for car dealerships etc etc, I have never seen or heard of this happening. I went out yesterday to start one of my cars up just to run the engine and charge up the battery after it has set up for about three weeks. As soon as I opened the door, I knew there was a problem...no interior lights. Turned the key, nothing battery totally dead. Checked under the hood to see if someone had stolen the battery but it was there. Made sure I didn't leave the headlights on, switch was off. Checked it with a voltmeter, 2.8 volts after fiddling with it a bit. It's the old style battery with two round lead terminals, not the screw in kind. Disconnected the cables, cleaned the cable connectors and terminals with a stainless steel type brush cleaner designed for that purpose which you can buy at any auto parts store. Hooked up the charger and left it to charge for a couple hours. Go back with a booster box and try to crank the engine. Nothing. Merde! Disconnect the cables again, take the battery to Advance Auto (yes, it was one of theirs and I purchased it 11/07 per the sticker on it) to have them test it and my guess was I just needed a new battery. Kid in the store puts their tester on it and tells me it's go zero voltage, it's DOA. Oh well, I guess five years service isn't too bad. He jiggles the connectors from is tester on the battery terminals (they are like big alligator clips) and says, "wait a minute" and the tester spits out a slip of paper indicating it's got 12.3 volts and 337 cold cranking amps. It's a bit run down but far from dead. He cleans both terminals with a difference type terminal connector (his shaved a little off the outside of the connectors) and tells me it was just a bad connection. Take it home, hook it all up and the car cranks right up! Put the voltmeter on the terminals and I'm getting 14.4 volts with the engine running.

I have never had this happen before. The terminals looked good; basically a dull gray color. No corrosion or acid. I was fully prepared to buy a new battery and would have had that guy told me that's what I needed to do. Soooo, I pass this experience along so that it might save y'all some money.

 

[nothingbutdarts]

It could be internally the lead is coming apart. You taking it out of the car and in for testing could have jared it back to a useable state. Hopefully it will last.

 

[Cranky]

Yeah, it could be what dart said....old style battery? What Chrysler product uses the GM style crap? Our newest Mopar in the family is a 2003 and it still uses the post type battery. Have the brand new ones converted over??

 

[Moparsmitty]

I had a similar experience with a top post battery in my Dakota. It just seemed to go completely dead overnight. After some considerable screwing around with it, I discovered that the + post had broken off the plate inside the battery. It was making intermittent contact and would test ok and even start the truck, but if the cable was moved the wrong way or even a hard bump would cause it to go open and then nothing. Had to spring for a new batt.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I used to always remove the terminals on old top post batteries doin oil changes and clean them. They get almost a "coating" on them after time and need to be shaved just like the OP is talkin about. Doesn't happen with the terminals so much as it does the posts.

 

[Pistol Pete]

I had a similar experience with a top post battery in my Dakota. It just seemed to go completely dead overnight. After some considerable screwing around with it, I discovered that the + post had broken off the plate inside the battery. It was making intermittent contact and would test ok and even start the truck, but if the cable was moved the wrong way or even a hard bump would cause it to go open and then nothing. Had to spring for a new batt.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[67 coronet]

i would replace that battery before you get stuck someplace.it is more than likely,with that much age,the battery is comming apart inside.when you get a"bad cell"reading durring a battery test it means a single cell has become disconected inside the case.your problem sounds like the tombstone is comming apart where it hooks to the rest of the battery inside the case.pretty much the same as moparsmitty said.

 

[ArtH]

i would replace that battery before you get stuck someplace.it is more than likely,with that much age,the battery is comming apart inside.when you get a"bad cell"reading durring a battery test it means a single cell has become disconected inside the case.your problem sounds like the tombstone is comming apart where it hooks to the rest of the battery inside the case.pretty much the same as moparsmitty said.

Checked it yesterday AM and it was dead. Showing less than 2 volts on my voltmeter. I didn't even try to charge it, just bought a new one. I put the new one in and checked the current draw with everything off. I put my multimeter leads between the positive post and the cable which at that point was not connected. The car was drawing 2.9 mA. I started removing fuses and found when I removed the breaker for power seats the draw went to .5 mA which is very little. I checked it from the positive side and the negative side and the readings were the same both ways. Since I am not driving the car much right now other than to start it up and run it a little, I decided to leave the negative cable disconnected.

I don't think I have a current draw problem even at 29mA but it's odd that the power windows would be drawing current. Stuck relay maybe?

 

[67 coronet]

i would check for continuity across those switches and motors.they should have none when not in operation.also check for continuity to body groung from the positive side of the circuits,also should have zero.may find a bad switch or grounded positive wire,remember to shake wiring harnesses when testing to check for intermitent stuff.