Problems and I cant figure it out

[Bill Summerfield]

I get out of work at 6 am this morning, and go to start my ST and NOTHING, and I mean nothing. No clicks, no turns, NOTHING! I figure my battery is dead and get a friend to give me a jump, but this is where it gets interesting. jump doesnt work right away, but after lettign the key sit in the ignition I was finnaly abel to get it to turn over and then eventually get it to start. Problem solved I thought. We take the Cables off and theyre piping hot, they actually gave me a blister on my finger thats how hot they were.



I start to drive hoem and then my ABS light starts flashing and my speedometer goes NUTS. SO I baby it home and realize whenever I am going really slow or dam near stopped, it sems fine. But if moving it goes nuts. I get home and start tinkering in my driveway, and when I rev the enginme its seems fine even though the RPMs are high, lookign normal. Turn the radio on, still okay. tuen on the A/C and it dies, immediately, just flatlined dead. I try to restart the ST, and nothing. Now heres what I coudl figure out:



I turn the key, and a couple of lights woudl come on reel dimly, byut leave it in and all woudl go on after about 8 seconds and really bright. Hit the key and click and they all go off. Hit the brakes, fuel gauge goes down and it seems power leaves the cluster, but then it slowly comes back. then goes down, then comes back all on its own. turn the blower motor switch and it sucks all power away and dies. Also when the lights are real dim with the key in the run position, the Anit-theft light blinks in a crazy way. Nto normal.



I am pretty certain its a bad ground somewhere, but I have no clue where to start and ANY help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long read, Im just seriously worried here and I need to get this done soon.

 

[Todd Z]

Sounds like a bad battery that is shorted out or a bad altornator....



Put a new battery in it , clean the connections and then have the alt tested imediatly....



Members that had the dash lights go weird had a bad battery or alt or both...



Todd Z

 

[Bill Summerfield]

Todd, wouldnt the truck shut down with a bad alternator though?? thats what I always thought. Plus the battert is less then three years old, but I guess its nto out of the realm of possibility. Ill steal the battery out of my Mother in laws truck tonight and check it out in my truck.

 

[Todd Z]

The alt could have a bad Diode and still charge the truck...... that would drain the battery, only charge enough to keep the truck running, but not charge the battery....



Do the battery swap and test the alt..



Todd Z

 

[Les]

Connections (at battery), battery, chassis ground or alternator...

 

[JohnM LowryJr]

Alternator!!! Use to you could take the battery cables off while the car was running and if the alternator was good the car would still run. If the alternator was bad it would die. Nurse it to Autozone and they test both the battery and alternator.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I am with Todd on this one.





Tom

 

[Kevin Palmer]

The vehicle will run on either the alternator and or the battery. Soo, if one fails or is defective, it will run until either the load is to much for the alternator and or the battery drops to something near 10.5 volts.



I am betting you have a short in the battery based on your description.

 

[Boodrodon Dykes]

Check Connections at battery. I worked on my truck a couple of weeks ago and I disconnected my battery, but when I reconnected it, I didnt tighten the Negative all the way down. And mine did the same thing, hard to start, then when I did get it started, my ABS light was going crazy and my Speedometer was fluctuating bad. That would be the place I would check real quick, just make sure its on there tight.





Boodro

 

[Bill Summerfield]

Well, Todd was right. I puleld the Battery and Alternator and took it to pep boys. they said the Battery had a short in it, so it went back to Wal Mart where they replaced it no questions asked. As for the ALternator, they said they coudlnt test it because it had to be doen on the vehicle. How would I get it tested then??



I returned and reinstalled everything and shes runnign fine. I have never seen a battery fail that way before, but first time for everythign and I learned somethign new today. Thansk Todd and everyone else for the input.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

It is not uncommon, and when they short, it creates major confusion as you can't jump it in most cases.



And if you do, it will run normally only as long as it takes for the internal components to warp and short out again and simply shut down.



General rule is, if you can't jump it, the battery is normally defective.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

Bill, with the engine running measure the voltage across the battery. It should read approximately 14.2 volts if the alternator is working properly. The reason that the jumper cables got so hot was because of the battery's internal short.

 

[Bill Summerfield]

how woudl you measure the voltage across the battery?? Never did it before, lol. And now it all makes sense knwoign that the battery had a short in it, lol. I just never saw a battery fail like that before and I have worked on alot of different cars between friends family, and growing up broke so me and my buddies had to do it ourselves. Im also happy that teh altenator is okay for now after seeign the cost of a reman'd one. $160 OUCH, lol.

 

[Todd Z]

Bill,



saying across the battery is just a term....



just check the voltage with the truck running with a voltmeter at the battery.....



Then you can test it at the alternator it self..



You can test the Alt on the truck using a special machine... Places like sears, and repair shops have them. IT tests the voltage regulator int he alt, its output under load, no load and the diode pattern...



ALSO just because you see 14 volts at the battery with a volt meter does not mean the diodes are good.



You can do a small load test your self, Turn ON everything, I Mean EVERYTHING in the truck with it running and then re test the voltage at the battery. it should he no lower then 12.6-7 or so.. IF you slightly rev the engine and it jumps right up, that is ok too..



There are soo many ways to test these things it can be crazy. Most people just replace things till the get it right...



Thats not my cup of tea.



Todd Z