Hello,

When I tried to start the van, it clicked and then all lights went out, instrument panel out as if no juice in the electrical system. I checked the battery and it was 76% charged. I hooked up the battery charger, charged it to 100% and it started right the way.

Went to the store and came back. A little while later, when I tried to start it. Same thing happen again (all lights out, instrument panel out) and the battery was 85% charged. Hook up the battery charger, 5 seconds later, it started right up.

What was wrong with it? Battery was new from Costco, less then 2 months old. Alternator was charging at 14.2 volt.

Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated.



Kin

 

You could have the battery load tested preferably off the vehicle using a carbon pile tester. Those results would say whether the battery is having issues or not.

This sounds like a starter beginning to fail, its now at a point when it will turn only at specific battery charge levels. All other lights and gauges that seem to fail when trying to engage the starter strongly suggest its drawing so much current the batteries energy being directed 100% to the starter.

 

Forgot to mention when the lights went out. They remained out until charger was hooked up. Would this change the diagnosis result?

Thanks.


Kin

 

I'd make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight.

 

Remove and clean both battery terminals. Odds are the inside of the terminals are corroded preventing the alternator from fully charging the battery. Quickest and cheapest fix first.

 

Battery terminals are new and tight.

 

Have the battery load tested. I have gotten batteries that were not filled with electrolyte and they never took a full charge. If the battery is sealed, it could still have a bad cell.

 

Also, every time it happens the clock reset back to 12 o'clock and the radio stations lost memory

 

Battery not holding charge. Going to Costco to swap out a new one.

Thank you for all the advice.

Kin

 

Thanks for the followup, Kin. The slightly high charge voltage (14.2) could be due to a bad cell. Normal voltage on a charged system is around 13.75 warmed up. Try to a replacement with the newest date code possible; batteries can sit on the shelf for months shortening the useful life. jim

 

Same thing happened. Van started in the morning but in the evening when I was ready to go home, It would not start.

I hooked up the battery charger (Sears Die Hard Gold) to the battery terminals. The battery was depleted to 9 volt. Battery (Interstate) was installed last month----second one in 2 months. After charging it for 10 minutes, switch charger to jump start engine, no help.

I got a jump from the client's car. Alternator voltage at 12.8

Drove 30 min to get home, I hooked up the battery to the charger again and battery reading was at 87%. Charged it back to 100% and next morning it started right up.

Is the voltage regulator bad? Or I have a slow discharge in the electrical system?


Kin

 

Sounds like you have a substantial parasitic draw on the battery. This could be from an internal short in the alternator itself or some part of another system is drawing current when it shouldn't.

An easy test is disconnect the negative battery terminal and install a multimeter between it and a known good ground source. You're inserting the multimeter in-line with any potential current draw----its unlikely you are exceeding 10 amps however most multimeters have internal protection fuses that blow when that amount of current is passed through it.

If you're not familiar with this sort of test here's a link that might be useful:
Let us know what this test reveals Kin!

 

Found out it was a combination of bad starter solenoid and an alternator that was slowing going bad.

 

Hopefully that fixes everything, you now have a dependable van once again.

 

So far so good. No more starting problem. I also put the battery on charger once a week to maintain its charge.