Battery Games
 

If you have your own story to tell add to the thread:

Having skipped lunch due to having to take a relative to the Doctors; and finally on my way home I decided to pull into a Taco Bell.

Ready to leave I turned the Ignition Key only to hear a barley audible click. Not even the type of click you would hear from a Starter Solenoid.
My Car (the Volvo Diesel) had been running fine with no indication of any charging problems (over 10 years ago installed a Voltmeter in the Dash).

Fortunately a few days before I had bought another (I think I have 3 more somewhere) Volt/Ohm meter from Harbor Freight at $2.99 and had tossed it into the Trunk and never put it in my Tool Box like I was supposed to.

I used the Meter to check the Battery and I was showing 12.69 volts and I also checked the Battery Terminals; OK.

Tried the key again and got nothing;. Turned on my Lights and found that I had no Lights. Tried my Glow Plug switch that is wired directly to the Battery (as the Lights are) and nothing?

Now I am thinking that maybe one of my Cables is no good and used the Volt Meter to probe for positive Voltage at the Starter. I was getting 12 Volts there also so this told me that my Positive Cable and Ground Cable must be working.

I decided to try to jumper wire the Starter Solenoid so that I could get out and get home. Nothing happened; no noise and no spark!

At this point I began to suspect the Battery. While it was still showing 12 Volts across the Battery Terminals I carefully took a Steel Punch and laid them across the Battery Terminals.

All I got was a tiny spark; pretty much indicating that something internal had gone wrong in the battery.

More good fortune was that there was an Autozone on the other side of the Intersection.

I walked over and bought a new Battery; installed it and was on my way home.

If I had not had the Volt/Ohm Meter with me I would not have been sure it was the Battery or not; I would have had to wait for the AAA to Tow me home.

One of those rare times when the Battery itself was the problem. (No warranty on the Old Batter as it was a left over from my Step Father who Passed Ons Electric Wheelchair.)

Atleas tit was an easy fix. What kind of battery was it? You know MB will bring you a battery and itstall it for you. The will only charge you for the battery.

last week I spent over an hour trying to get my friend's modern Nissan gasser to start. We went through everything with the multimeter. We ripped out the back seat to access the pump, removed some botched stereo system installation, replaced all the fuses, applied load to the battery and tested voltage drop, tested voltage drop across the chasis, cranked and cranked and cranked, smelt the exhaust... couldn't figure it out.

He waited for AAA and the tow guy solved it by cleaning the terminals... damn

he still bought me a bottle of whiskey though

I was driving my 82 244GL Volvo Diesel (so I do not think Mercedes would be interested in helping me); also my Wife normally drives the Mercedes.

The Old Battery was a Sears Deep Discharge No Maint. Electric Wheel Chair Battery from my Step Fathers Electric Wheel Chair (he pass on about 4 years ago). I still have the other Wheel Chair Battery as the Chair used a set of 2 to get 24 Volts.

The Mercedes has a Bosch Battery that the PO bought just before he sold the Car. There is a sticker on the Battery with a phone number and they will also come out and change the Battery.

I know that this is mostly a Mercedes Forum but the same Battery Problem can happen to any Car with a Battery

ohh, I thought you were in the 300D. Your right, you have to put the wife in the best car....

I bet that wheelchair battery has tons of coldcranking amps.

About 2 months after buying the Mercedes I called AAA to Tow it as it would not crank the Starter; it was night I had no tools or flashlight.

As the Driver was hooking it up for the tow I went to make sure the transmission was in N and found out that I had left it in D; which was the reason It would not start.

To avoid the shame of it I kept quiet and let the Driver Tow me home.

Ounce I got home with the gear shift in P it started normally.

Now that's a funny story. :D

My worst wasn't actually the battery, but the alternator. Took my GMC with a 6.2 towing a rented trailer about 275 miles away from home (over the divide in CO) to rescue a friends Toyota pick-up in Grand Junction. About 20 minutes after leaving GJ, I notice the volt gauge isn't running up near 17 like usual. I figure, I'm good to go, still had daylight, and there really isn't anyplace to get parts out there anyway. Next, I get stuck in a traffic jam going up Vail pass, light starts to ebb, I start wondering if I need to turn around. Decide to press on. By the time I got off the highway, my headlights are dimmer than candles. Still had an hour to go. Start running with the lights off, figuring that there are streetlights here, and there the last 30 miles there aren't. Last 5 miles, on dirt, I had my flashlight out the window, trying to get periodic clues to where the edge of the road was. Finally, about 200 yards from my house, a sheriff goes by, and whips around with lights flashing. Guy pulls me over in my driveway, where I inform him that 'something just happened about a 1/4 mile away, and I just limped it home. Got off with a 'better get that checked out'. Both batteries recovered with a 24 hour trickle charge, and it wasn't until the next day that I realized I had a fully charged battery in the vehicle on the trailer.

I still consider myself pretty new to them. Within the first month after the 'rebuild', I stopped for fuel and did the same thing since I was messing with the blinkers and the relay behind the shifter.

I sat in the station for 35min pretending like I was doing routine maintenance while the attendant hawk-eyed me the whole time. I was freaking out and seriously thought the engine was toast b/c I forgot to torque a main or the oil pump etc..

Finally figured it out and drove away like: ".. I knew that...."

Hi

A deep cycle wheelchair batteries is an entirely differant animal than a starting battery.

Deep cycle are designed to provide steady low current over an extended time. Starting batteries are designed to provide high current for a short time.

Starting batteries are ruined by repeated deep discharge while deep cycle batteries are ruined by high amp recharging.

Joseph

well - I thought my battery was going even though it showed about 12.5 volts on the meter. I checked the resistance of the positive and ground cables, pulled the starter and had it checked.... it checked out fine. But it still cranked slow.

A couple days later I went to start it at work and got about 1rpm out of the starter.
Put a jump box on it - no change.
Put a known good battery in it - no change.
Pulled out the starter and replaced it - starts like a champ.

I wonder what would have happened if the guy at the auto parts store tested the starter repeatedly - I wonder if it would have failed on the test stand.... not likely with no resistance.

One thing for sure - diesels (especially naturally aspirated) sure do test starters.

I have to send the starter back where I bought it and hope for a refund as it's less than a year old. I ended up having a local rebuilder go through the starter that was in the car when I bought it - he turned it around in a day for $115.

My dad's old Fairmont station wagon had all kinds of electrical gremlins. The last one was that it wouldn't start in park, only in neutral.

After the other Member mentioned the CCAs I did a search for a forumla to convert the 45 Amp Hours to CCAs.
I worked out to a about 250 CCA. But, as you said you cannot compare the types of Batteries. However, that particular Battery survived 2 years on the Wheel Chair and a least 4 years on the Car.

I found this site. Battery Cold Cranking Amps are rated at a temp of Zero Degrees F and the amount of Voltage fall after 30 seconds of Craniking.
The site allows you to see what cranking amperage is available at different outside temps.
Example a 750 CCA Battery at 70 Degrees F will have 1205 CCA available at that temp and a 60% charge.
http://www.bgsoflex.com/ccatemp.html

Hi

Sure can't complain about service like that. Chalk one up for Sears

Joseph

Where in MI did you take the starter? I want to make a list of competent rebuilders and parts sources in Michigan

I know of a couple - one on Ecorse road in Romulus - the name escapes me now.
and the other on middlebelt road in the Livonia / westland area - professional rebuilders.