About three months ago on the way to Idaho from Sacramento, I shut my car off at a rest stop, and when I tried to start it up again, the battery was dead to the point that the panel lights wouldn't even come on. I got the car jumped, and it was fine for the rest of the drive as long as I didn't turn it off. When I got to Idaho, I got the battery charged, and it was fine until now. when it's doing the same thing. Before I parked the car, the charge gauge was on 8 volts. I started it up again with a booster pack, and from the B terminal to ground on the unibody was 12.something volts, but B to either the battery post or the clamp was in the 0.something range. I checked the resistance in the cable after disconnecting it from the alternator and the battery, and got around .3 ohms of resistance, with a beep from the meter when I used the circuit checker. Any suggestions?

EDIT: Changed what resistance I got on the B terminal to battery cable. I dunno where 6 ohms came from. The car also dies if I remove the negative cable while it's running with a jump start.

 

If you remove the cable it will die that is normal.

If your charging system was not working you would have been able to jump start it and drive the vehicle with a dead battery.

You need to have the battery charged and properly load tested to determine if it is good or not. Then take the car in to any CSK/O'reily's and have them test the charging system in the vehicle.

 

Ever replaced the battery _cables_ ?? Old, badly corroded (internal and invisible) can cause all sorts of funky electrical gremlins. If the battery checks out OK, I would consider replacing them...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

start with the simple stuff, get that battery tested, and eliminate 1 thing at a time