scottcs Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 This morning I got into my car to head to work and there was no electrical at all! I started the car just fine yesterday evening to go home from work - ran and drove fine, parked in the garage, everything was as normal, then this morning it was completely dead. The voltage has always been around 14 + whenever I checked, I received no warning at all, and when I put my battery charger on the terminals under the hood, I still could not get anything in the car to light-up, and the charger is showing an extremely low charging indicator - like it does when the battery is almost completely charged. Any ideas? '98 STS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Check the battery connections for corrosion. That sounds like a classic case of a corroded terminal to me. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Don't overlook the battery. Years ago you always had a warning when they where getting weak by slower cranking speed and longer cranking times. With electronic ignition and maybe better batteries I have noticed little to no warning no a days. Good one day and dead the next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 I'll second Kevin's diagnosis as the first thing to check. That is the most common electrical trouble point in these cars. If that isn't it, the second thing would be to check to see if a dome light or glove compartment light was left on. When a battery is totally dead, it may not show much amperage when first hooked to the charger. The offending light should glow when the charger is hooked up. If indeed a light was left on, your battery may be toast. Some batteries do not respond well after being totally discharged. Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottcs Posted May 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 To all of you that responded to my question, please let me say thanks for your ideas. I am heading home now to take a look at the battery and connections since I didn't have a chance this morning. Will follow-up with the results if I have any luck. Thanks again to you all. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottcs Posted May 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Thanks all for the info, it was just the battery - replacement at Advance Auto was $118 and they had 3 in stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeM Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 When to start my car one day and nothing, poped the hood, everything looked ok, went to remove the plastic red cap over the positive terminal and the whole terminal pulled out of the core of the battry attached the stupid plastic cap! lol! The fun part was me trying to clean all the acid up and burning my hands a bunch of times while trying to scrub with baking soda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopdeville Posted May 14, 2005 Report Share Posted May 14, 2005 Last Saturday, I went out with my kids. The old girl started and ran perfectly. I came out 1/2 hour later and there was no pulse and no breathing in her. I suspected a ground fault and wiggled the negative battery connection. She turned over but very slowly. Luckily, I have a dual post battery (obviously a universal replacement). I took my jumpers from the trunk, positioned one to jump from the side connection to the top post and all was normal again. Funny thing was driving home with a jumper cable hanging half out of the half-open hood and my kids roaring with laughter at the old girl. The local parts store had a "conversion cable kit" to change from side to top. Once installed I found that the plate inside the battery had separated internally and no longer offered a ground to the side terminal. I think I need a new battery soon... MP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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