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Anonymous Poster
ifishouldfallbehind@yahoo.com
Jul 4, 2008, 9:03 PM
Post #1 of 4
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'99 Chevy Malibu LS 6cyl automatic
A few days ago my car took a few attempts to start. The car was ticking and so I thought the battery connection was bad or that the car was way too low on oil, because both have happened in the past. It drove okay for a day or two and wouldn't start again. The car was ticking again, but wouldn't turn over at all. It took a long time charging from another car and revving the other car's engine and I was able to get it home, but the same thing the next day. I replaced the battery since mine was pretty old and the car started fine. I didn't need to actually drive it until the next day though and it did the same thing. It was ticking, but the windows were able to roll down very slowly. (I don't recall the other times if the electrical was working). My dad wants to replace the starter himself (to save me money), but I don't want to replace that if that couldn't be it. Would the car have started with the new battery if the starter is bad? The alternator light never came on. I had either the alternator or the starter replaced in about 2003, but I can't recall which, it was so long ago and I can't find the paperwork. I just tried again to start the car so I can accurately describe it and the interior lights appeared to work fine, but when I turned the ignition, the engine did nothing and lights dimmed to nothing and the car would barely (electronically) lock. The only light that has come on is the battery light - never the ALT light, which everyone tells me would come on if that were the problem. Also, I believe the alternator is more expensive to fix than a starter, correct?
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Guest
Anonymous Poster
ifishouldfallbehind@yahoo.com
Jul 4, 2008, 9:08 PM
Post #2 of 4
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Re: 99 Chevy Malibu - starter, alternator???
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I just wanted to add to my post above, that this last time when I attempted to start the car, there was no ticking, if that could be important.
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Anonymous Poster
ifishouldfallbehind@yahoo.com
Jul 4, 2008, 9:19 PM
Post #3 of 4
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Re: 99 Chevy Malibu
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Sorry, also needed to add that the mileage on the car is about 170,000.
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flgmtech1
User
Jul 5, 2008, 4:24 AM
Post #4 of 4
(3841 views)
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Re: 99 Chevy Malibu
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First thing I would do is a load test on the "new" battery. the second thing is to check both battery cables and this includes the cable ends where they meet at the battery, the bolts can corrode and the cables can wick corrosion upward. The key is to make sure that the cables have good clean connection and that they are tight and sound, This means at the battery and at the starter and at the alternator and at the engine block ground. You can also do a voltage drop test with a DVOM and ensure that you have a good chassis ground and that the cables are good, if you have a high variance the minute you go to place the ignition switch in run or crank the voltage drop would take the circuit down, but would test out to be fine when a meter is place at the battery with out a load.
The next step, is if the vehicle has a Good battery that passes a load test, this means if you do not have the tool to do this test take the battery back to where you bought it and have them test it in front of you so that you can see the results. If it passes great, if not have them replace the battery. Now the next step is to check for a parastitic drain. This means something is using power in your car, enough so that it is draining the battery over night. The test is not as mysterious as it may seem. It does however require that you use a Digital Volt Ohm Meter. The use of a shunt is also recommended so that you can take the negative battery cable off and use the shunt and the DVOM to locate the source of your drain.
Measuring for a voltage drop - Set the rotary dial of the DMM to the V (DC) position.
- Connect the positive lead of the DMM to one point of the circuit to be tested.
- Connect the negative lead of the DMM to the other point of the circuit.
- Operate the circuit.
- The DMM displays the difference in voltage between the 2 points.
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Here are some rules of thumb that might help relate parasitic drains to how long a battery would last on a parked vehicle.
The Reserve Capacity (RC) rating multiplied by 0.6 gives the approximate available ampere-hours (AH) from full charge to complete rundown. Somewhere between full charge and complete rundown, the battery will reach a point at which it can no longer start the engine, although it may still operate some of the electrical accessories.
Using up about 40% of the total available AH will usually take a fully-charged battery to a no-start condition at moderate temperatures of 25°C (77°F). Put another way, for a typical battery in a storage situation, depleting the available AH by 20 to 30 AH will result in a no-start condition.
Important: If the battery begins storage at 90% of full charge, reduce the available AH accordingly.
The recommendation for maximum parasitic drain is around 30 mA (0.030 amp). A typical drain today actually falls into the 7-12 mA range, even though some vehicles do approach the maximum. Multiply the drain (in amps) by the time (in hours) the battery sits without being recharged. The result is the amount of AH consumed by the parasitic drain. The actual drain may be small, but over time the battery grows steadily weaker.
Here's an example: a vehicle with a 30 mA drain and a fully-charged 70 RC battery will last 23 days. But if that battery is at only 65% of full charge (green dot barely visible), it is going to last only 15 days before causing a no-start. Once you have established you hae a drain removing fuses one at a time until the drain falls below the acceptable level will help you to know what circuit is casuing your problem
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