torpedoman

Can anyone help with this 99 Astro charging problem? The engine fires up strong and consistent only when a portable jump battery is used and will run trouble free. I replaced the battery in haste about a month ago (wasn’t the problem) didn’t need the portable for two days though… Then I bought a new alternator - was told it was not putting out as much as it should. Figured that was it and why not test the battery (a month old but dead now) test showed it was bad.
So I have this new alt and new batt but same problem – battery runs down. Volt gage in the dash reads a little over 14. For some reason the alt powers the whole van when running but is not reaching the battery. I cleaned the battery connections / under hood fuse panel connectors. Has any one encountered this before? Assuming the alt & batt is not the cause is their a component between them? On the charging circuit in the Haynes it looks like the charge travels to the solenoid before heading back to the battery and yet my starter works every time I use the portable jump . Thanks for any help.

brcidd

battery may not be running down-- check volts at battery before starting- sounds like you have poor connections- corrosion etc- since it jump starts fine- you are connecting voltage to the other side of the battery terminals-- try wiggling the battery cables when trying to start it- and be sure your connectors are clean inside and out...........

__________________
Automotive A/C Engineer with:

'95 Chev 3500, 454 Dually Crew Cab- 145k miles- Wife's Camel trailer puller.
'94 Astro- 370k miles
'94 Firebird Formula- 5.7L 180k miles- gone- blown head gasket
'92 Chevy Lumina Van 3.8L 264k miles
'86 GMC S-15 - 2.8L 154k miles
'86 Buick Park Ave 3.8L 199k miles- my daily driver
'77 Chevy Vega- 2.5L 175k miles gone but not forgotten
'68 Camaro 396 4 spd RS/SS -72k miles- my high school car!!

All but the Camaro and Firebird are white....

torpedoman

Thanks brsid,

I tested the cells with one of those battery testers - 4 balls floating indicate full charge mine only floated one of them. This was a new battery four days ago. I'll try your suggestion wiggling the cables. Thanks.

canadajoe

My 96 had a similar problem. My interior lights were coming on and killing the battery. Noticed this one night after the vehicle was parked for several hours with the interior lights not on and noticed that the lights had come on by themselves. There is an electronic part that needs to be replaced but it is costly. There is a small push button on mine that you can use to stop the interior lights from coming on when the doors open, I have left mine pushed in and have not had any problems except when the button is accidently left out.

torpedoman

Cleaned the main connections and had a friend help out with a volt meter. Two things I know: The secound battery was dead - and there is a -4.3 draw on the battery.
We spent some time pulling each fuse (both boxes) and watching the meter. The only fluctuation was: with the Batt and lighting fuse pulled out the draw went from -4.3 to -4.1 so I didnt strike gold there.
What am I doing now? I don't know where the draw is coming from but It's my enemy so I delight in starving it by taking off the + overnight. At least it prevents my battery from dipping past 75% charged.
Got to go on vacation Friday so I'm afraid I don't have the time to do it myself but I'd try any suggestions from my motor-head friends in this forum. Any ideas where a -4 might be coming from?
Theres a place that will diegnose it for 75.00 and thats a dinner night out with the family... damn! Anyway, I'll keep everyone reading this posted on what this was for records sake.

brcidd

did you pull the circuit breakers as well as the fuse during your amp-d raw test? also pull the alternator cable- is alternator warm when it should be cold?

__________________
Automotive A/C Engineer with:

'95 Chev 3500, 454 Dually Crew Cab- 145k miles- Wife's Camel trailer puller.
'94 Astro- 370k miles
'94 Firebird Formula- 5.7L 180k miles- gone- blown head gasket
'92 Chevy Lumina Van 3.8L 264k miles
'86 GMC S-15 - 2.8L 154k miles
'86 Buick Park Ave 3.8L 199k miles- my daily driver
'77 Chevy Vega- 2.5L 175k miles gone but not forgotten
'68 Camaro 396 4 spd RS/SS -72k miles- my high school car!!

All but the Camaro and Firebird are white....

torpedoman

They found a voltage drop in the ground circuit located where? The engine block. Cleaned it good and problem solved.