hey guys, have my fb cranking pretty slowly. When I go to turn it over the volts drop and the cranking slowly picks up speed until it fires, thinking the battery might be shot after sitting so long drained. I have a slow trickle charger, if I put it on the trickle charger it will fire fine if I put it in the car right after but otherwise it acts like it has no amperage behind it. I can let it sit about 2-3 days before I have to throw it on the charger so it's holding a charge to a point and the car doesn't seem to be draining it. It feels like something is dragging it down though when running, alternator seems fine but it's a hair above 12v while running which i'f i'm not mistaken isn't right where it should be.

any input? it's never left me stranded so far.

 

Put a multimeter on it and check the amperage draw with the ignition off to see if you have a drain somewhere.

Re:slow cranking, check your grounds and clean and re-seat the battery terminal clamps. If that doesn't do it, suspect the battery.

 

After all that, check starter. Mine started like that until it died. I'm using a red top and had new alternator, that's how I ruled them out. Good luk.

 

i'll check both tomorrow. I'm looking at the battery in my living room but it's still pouring rain here so I haven't gotten to it again tonight. I believe it's a crap battery the way it has trouble draining. if I take it off the charger for 20 minutes and put it back on it has plenty of room to charge again like it was losing power that whole time. The trickle charger I have is a "smart" charger so it tops off as needed without overcharging to prevent damage.

 

Ever renew the battery cables??
Have heard that all sorts of power gremlins can be traced to old cables. Even if they look OK, insides can be rotten....

Stu Aull
80 GS (yeees, new bat cables!)
Alaska

 

It definitely crossed my mind, but I didn't want to start replacing them unless I absolutely had to. i'll see how it does today when I take the battery out to it and a few minutes. I run up and down 3 flights of stairs everytime I have to go do anything on the 7, this car has become a workout, especially with a battery in hand haha