Need some help..wife about to kill me!

- J
- jbrianchamberlin
  
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posted
19 years ago

Sat, Jun 26, 2004 2:36 PM

About a month or so ago I replaced the alternator and the starter in my wifes 93 Cabriolet. Since then everything has been fine. We even put a new battery in it. Now, it's dead. No lights, no nothing. I jumped it and it started fine. I ran it for a few minutes, turned it off, restarted fine. It sat for a couple of hours, I went to start it again, dead again. The lights barely come on now but it won't crank over. Seems the battery is not holding a charge. So what's the first thing I should do? I don't really have the tools to test certain connections or the know how. I have the Bently book but it directs me from one chapter to the next and I can't find a section for my exact problem. Help. I need to take care of this myself...my wife is gonna shit! (She didn't trust me with the alternator or starter to begin with but I was trying to save some money.)

Thanks, Brian

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- Rick De Visser
  
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posted
19 years ago

Sat, Jun 26, 2004 4:01 PM

dude, you gotta go get yourself a cheap multitester (volt meter, amp meter, ohm meter) they are as cheap as $20 (make sure it has an amp meter -not just milliamps) sounds like you have a drain on your system you can check drain in each circuit by removing fuses and checking amps across the terminals. (set your multitester to amps -not milliamps- first) you can check other larger circuits by disconnecting the wire and putting the multitester in between (to complete the circuit) and see what the amps are.

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- Woodchuck
  
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posted
19 years ago

Sat, Jun 26, 2004 4:28 PM

See... you should of listened to her before throwing parts at the car. Here's what you need to do:

1-charge the battery which may take overnight. Best thing to do is disconnect the battery cable. 2-Get it running and check the voltage at the battery and it should be in the 13 -13.9 volt range. If so then the charging system is working. 3-Measure the (ma)milliamp draw of the car with everything turned off and key out of the ignition and see what it is. Should be under 50ma. 4-My guess you got something staying on and killing the battery. May be a relay sticking on, trunk light, radio, etc.