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Electrical gremlin?? '96 G. Caravan 3.8L

I earlier reported a fault code 41, the battery being undercharged and the alternator apparantly not putting out any juice. As part of diagnosing the problem, I pulled the battery and charged it up for a few hours.

When I hooked it back up, everything went nuts!! You could hear all the relays switching on and off, the headlights switching on and off. The chime ringing on and off. After a minute or so it stopped. I opened the driver's side door and it all started again. I waited until it stopped and put the key in and tried starting the engine and got nothing. No clicking, no starter motor, no nothing. I opened the door to get out and it happened again.

I pulled the codes and got 12 55 (41 disappeared probably since it only gets set when the engine is running).

Anyone have any ideas??

Reply to
David Allen
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Reply to
Robert Korn

I finally solved this problem. The whacky behavior was indeed because of the alarm system, which I had "deactivated" a while ago. Having the battery disconnected "re-activated" it. For some strange reason the audible alarm didn't go off, but all the other alarm actions did (flashing lights, etc.). Once I figured that out, I just turned the alarm system off again.

The real problem looks to have been corrosion in the alternator connector. I pulled the altenator and a bunch of little white bits fell out of the connector. I tested the alternator at Kragen's and it tested good. I cleaned up the connector best I could and put everything back together and it seemed to work again. At least the voltage at the battery with the engine on was up to 13.8 volts (before in was 12.3 volts).

Someone suggested to me that even 13.8 volts was a little low and that I should have the battery load tested, which I'll try to do this weekend if I have time.

Reply to
David Allen

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