[Flofocus]

no s**t its odd. its in a heated garage.

dam vortech. :P

[darkpuppet]

Flofocus,Jan 11 2005, 07:53 PM Wrote:no s**t its odd.  its in a heated garage.

dam vortech.  :P
[right][snapback]78410[/snapback][/right]

I still need to go down there and check, but I'd laugh if it was because the negative terminal wasn't properly tightened down and corroded.. then I can make fun of the guys who installed the alarm.

[Flofocus]

darkpuppet,Jan 11 2005, 03:54 PM Wrote:

Flofocus,Jan 11 2005, 07:53 PM Wrote:no s**t its odd.  its in a heated garage.

dam vortech.  :P
[right][snapback]78410[/snapback][/right]

I still need to go down there and check, but I'd laugh if it was because the negative terminal wasn't properly tightened down and corroded.. then I can make fun of the guys who installed the alarm.
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Im gonna keep my fingers crossed and hope that is all it is for ya!

[Associate]

Steve,
My brother-inlaw just had the exact problem you are describing with a 2000 f-150. He had it towed and the garage charged him for a new starter that still didn't work until they decided to check the cables running to it.. Turns out that they change the two power wires and the terminal and bingo, fired right up. I would have a carefull look at the cables and the terminals, at the battery and starter, before spending the money to have it towed.

[french_connection]

Steve, you can push the car very very slow and still start in 3rd gear....

common man, where is your Ghetto Style....


as for the starter, it sit on the firewall side of the engine, on the driver side, mid block in height, just below the intake manifold, you could yank it through the #4 and #3 runners if Im right.

good luck.

[2001 ZTS]

french_connection,Jan 11 2005, 10:49 PM Wrote:common man, where is your Ghetto Style....

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DP's got ghetto style coming out his pores man, the boyz legit dawg living down and out with no runnin water an all that shizzy:

http://www.focuscanada.net/forum/index.p...topic=8347

[darkpuppet]

I thinks I know what the problem is, and while it's a simple problem, I'm worried the fix won't be quite so.... simple.

it's a dead battery folks.

I pulled the headlight, the contacts were corroded on the surface, but the contacts were alright.

But that little dot that's usually a happy green was an ominous red. Check the voltage across terminals and it's 11.38 volts.

that ain't enough to start no car.

I think the failure to jump it yesterday was most likely caused by picking a bad grounding spot. Next time I think we should pick a spot off the engine (tonnes of brackets etc).

now the thing is this...

t'is a simple problem.. dead battery .. no big whoopty doo..

but how the hell do I change it in the position vortech has it? I have a feeling the tray gets dropped, or the fender/bumper comes off.

yuck...

on a positive note, the backup siren does go off when the battery is unhooked. Guess I'll have to use the master disable to turn off the alarm before spending any real amount of time with the siren unhooked.

[2001 ZTS]

darkpuppet,Jan 12 2005, 01:28 AM Wrote:  Check the voltage across terminals and it's 11.38 volts.

that ain't enough to start no car.

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Edit: I was going to say no prob but never mind, a running car can tolerate that low a voltage but not one "at rest".

[darkpuppet]

2001 ZTS,Jan 12 2005, 01:38 AM Wrote:

darkpuppet,Jan 12 2005, 01:28 AM Wrote:  Check the voltage across terminals and it's 11.38 volts.

that ain't enough to start no car.

[right][snapback]78478[/snapback][/right]

Edit: I was going to say no prob but never mind, a running car can tolerate that low a voltage but not one "at rest".
[right][snapback]78479[/snapback][/right]

yeah, but there's just no available current at that draw.. especially from an OEM battery. This baby wasn't meant for deep cycling.

and usually when terminals are this crusty on a dead battery, I wouldn't even hold hope that the battery could hold a charge even if we did get it started.

[dBlast]

darkpuppet,Jan 11 2005, 08:28 PM Wrote:it's a dead battery folks.

I think the failure to jump it yesterday was most likely caused by picking a bad grounding spot.  Next time I think we should pick a spot off the engine (tonnes of brackets etc).


[right][snapback]78478[/snapback][/right]

When my battery went, the same thing happened to me. It wouldn't start with booster cables if the cables were applied according to the manual. The grounding spot (one of the brackets on top of the engine) wasn't a good enough of a connection to get it started. It started once the ground was connected directly to the negative post.

Your battery may have been drained by a parasitic load while your car was parked for such a long period of time.

[darkpuppet]

dBlast,Jan 12 2005, 02:21 AM Wrote:Your battery may have been drained by a parasitic load while your car was parked for such a long period of time.
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ie. car alarm with proximity warn away? I need to check if it has battery protection and if not, get some.

problem is that the car spent a lot of time parked this summer as I fiddled with stuff (in my own slow way), and I drive it for 20 minutes once a week if it's lucky.

I'm not surprised.

[naz]

couldn't you clean up the terminals really well, pick a better spot to ground and try the jump start again?

[darkpuppet]

naz,Jan 12 2005, 03:11 AM Wrote:couldn't you clean up the terminals really well, pick a better spot to ground and try the jump start again?
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because there's still the issue of getitng the battery fully charged/recharged. I'm not sure if resurrecting a dead OEM battery is going to get me much driving time.

[naz]

you have the water cooled setup right? didn't the installation require relocating the battery? or am i looking at pics of the wrong thing on the net

[darkpuppet]

naz,Jan 12 2005, 03:20 AM Wrote:you have the water cooled setup right? didn't the installation require relocating the battery? or am i looking at pics of the wrong thing on the net
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yup.. the battery is relocated... behind the front bumper, just in front of the wheel well (under the headlight)

[sweetg]

Normally to start a car u got to have a min. of 9.6v. But since u got all this extra things hooked up might need that extra juice. But any thing above 10v should be good. boost the battery at the battery post nothing will happen. Run the car for a min. of 5-10 min, and see if the car starts again. If it does ur good if not u need a new battery.
good luck

[meford4u]

If it helps at all Steve, we are having battery woo's ourself. With the car away for the winter and the once a week start and warm, we have to unhook the cable for the battery or else the alarm runs down the battery and we can't start it. That's why I posted earlier about the Optima at Costco on sale next week.

By the way, the garage is locked with a garage guard dog on duty if Dean is in the area!! :lol:

[paolo]

Here's an idea. I bumped into someone a few years ago with a hard to reach Battery, it was re-located, but what he did do was hardwire some really thick wires to a quick connection plug which was easily accessible under the hood. When ever he needs to do a jump start, It was as easy as plugging in a cable.

[ZX3 in progress]

meford4u,Jan 11 2005, 10:34 PM Wrote:By the way, the garage is locked with a garage guard dog on duty if Dean is in the area!! :lol:
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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA too funny

[Flofocus]

I dont get it. My car sits in a cold garage, sometimes a month going by without being started. I've never had any problems starting the car. Same Battery since Nov 00.

<_<

and your in a heated garage....its weird to me.