I always wanted to FIX a trans-miss-ion

You check car stuff with DV volts not AC. The ~ is for AC the = is for DC. DONT try it on the Ohms setting or you will smoke your meter.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

ok... ill try that


but ive always wanted to see a volt meter melt down

Good sense of humor! Hope your driving skills are as well thought out! Kidding

ive played those racing games on the ps2 and xbox with the steering wheel and the ones where i can venture in a city sometimes when im bored ill obey the rules of the road

TheDon,

"I put a voltmeter to it" does that mean you measured the voltage of your battery?

"my neighbor was like try my 300Amp jump box" does that mean you neighbor wants you to try connecting his battery charger to start your car?

Maybe before you take the engineering and auto-tech courses, you should take a course in English composition. If you would reply in correct English, I might know what you are talking about.

The problem with the voltmeter isn't the voltmeter, its operator problems. I'd trust the voltmeter much more than the operator.

The way you test a battery with a voltmeter is to charge the battery, connect the voltmeter across the battery posts and put a load on the battery that draws 400 or more amps. You could use the car starter to load the battery. If the battery voltage drops to almost nothing, the battery is NG. Dropping a few volts is normal and that battery is probably OK.

Testing the battery voltage with the engine running and not running is a test of the charging system, not the battery.

P E H

sorry if my english is not to par. I shal work on it my good man. But i did let it sit with the jump box/charger box for an hour and when i would go to crank it would be a slow sluggish crank.. just go errr uhh uhh to yourself and that is what it sounded like. i was trying to get the car started so i could mesure the charge with a load on the battery . i did get a read out of 11.8 on the battery's terminals with the volt meter. but i think i was doing something wrong. apparently the jump box has a guage on it that tells the batterys charge and it was on low. i do belive this battery is at least 3 years old. so i guess ill get a new one and test the charging system

sounds like a good plan...
you can get one at AutoZone...or maybe even WalMart.

__________________
1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

You must have at least a 100 AMP battery charger, to recharge your battery in hours, not days.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=444&pricetype=

The Don,

I would test the charging system first and get it working properly before buying a new battery. Even a new battery will not start the engine all the time if the alternator isn't recharging it.

As far as the slow cranking, That could be caused by a bad connection in any of the connections of the battery cables or the battery terminals. Put your volt meter accross the connections. Any reading above 1/2 volt is a problem. You can also do feel check trying to find a hot spot. Be careful you don't burn yourself. I did one time but at least I found out why my old Chevy wouldn't crank very fast.

11.8 volts sounds about right for a battery that isn't fully charged. Fully charge the battery and it should read about 12.5 volts.

I asked at Walmart and although a group 49 was in the catalog, they don't stock them. So AutoZone (AZ) is the place to buy a new battery. AZ usually has a group 49 on the shelf. The AZ group 49 battery isn't their best battery, but it still has 1000CA and 875CCA. Last price I saw recently was $65.

P E H

PS: It is proper to start a new sentence with a capital letter.

Like this ? My car would always start with a strong crank I just dont know why it did this yesturday. All i did was drive it around the block and go park in my driveway. Ill get the voltmeter and check the ground connections. Ill also get a jump from my friend with an old MR2 and test the charging system too

Roy, just a point of note,

I've owned a tiny 6 amp Sears charger all my life and it has always provided a full charge to a battery when left overnight. It starts out at 6 amps and slowly drops to below 1 amp as the voltage in the battery rises.

No good for starting an engine, but, has always done the job if allowed to work for 12 hours or so.

TheDon,

Not only check the ground connections but the + side connections too. Like where the battery cable connects to the solonoid or where the other terminal of the solonoid connects to the starter. That was the hot spot on the Chevy I was talking about.

I agree with Brian about a small current battery charger. I built a battery charger 40+ years ago that has a maximum current of 8 amperes. And that charger has always charged a battery overnight.

P E H

A good battery with a low AMP charger = 12 - 24 hours minimum time.
Not good if you are in a hurry.
A marginal/bad battery with a low AMP charger = 24 too infinite hours.
I use this for work = time is money = 100 AMP for half to one hour, and it is charged.

Please consider; there are times when a fast boost/charge is needed.
* Single vehicle = no alternative transport.
* Extreme cold weather starting.
* Marginal/bad starter.
* Prolonged diagnostic work draining battery.
* Just plain nice to have, when you need it.

Low AMP chargers are nice for maintenance charging a good battery.

Edit: thank you P E H

The info you need is in the quote above.

The roadside test is to start the car with the headlights on. See if the headlights dim while cranking. Your are in effect using the headlights as a voltmeter. Try with a known problem-free car for comparison and verification.

Bad connections, with high resistance, get hot under a load.

Merry Christmas, or if that pisses you off, Happy Holidays.