help with voltage issues

[hittmann81]

I went out for a bit was at the shop for about 40 mins or so and when i went to leave the battery was dead. All I was getting was the click of the engine relay and a check engine light. It was during the day and I had the stereo and AC on, on the drive there.

I replaced the battery with a brand new one, I also replaced the relay. The Stereo/Amp had previously been installed in this car but i did have a duel battery kit, power inverter, xbox, in dash lcd as well.
Seeing as I'm not putting the xbox in here again i didn't bother installing all the other stuff again.

Today i borrowed a volt meter and reconnected the stereo/amp.

I don't have the tools to diagnose the way the manual describes but this was my finding with a standard volt meter across the battery terminals.

Car off - 12.7v across terminals
Car running - 13.85v across terminals
Car running high beam on + blower on hi + stereo on - 13.0v across terminals
Retest car off - 12.5v across terminals

The Temp where i am at the time of testing was 34°C

The manual shows Standard voltage:
13.9 – 15.1 V at 25°C (77°F)
13.5 – 14.3 V at 115°C (2390F)

At a temp higher than 25°C being .1v lower seems OK to me but it's still on the low end of the scale.

Any ideas on what is going on here and why my battery went flat?
I popped the battery into my other car and it fired up without a problem.

Could it be possible that i have the same problem as these people? http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul....php?p=3985776

[Mike Gerber]

When asking for help it's best to give the year of the car, engine (I4 or V6), and the current mileage, along with any recent maintenance or repairs done to the car.

First I would clean the battery posts and the battery cable terminal ends just to rule them out. If the problem persists, I would next suspect worn starter solenoid contacts. This is a common problem as these cars rack up a a lot of mileage. You can test for this yourself. Try tapping the starter's solenoid with a small hammer or wrench. Give it a good tap but don't try to break it or crack it. Then see if the car will them start. You can even have another person hold the key in the start position while you use the hammer or wrench on the starter's solenoid. If the car starts you have varified worn starter solenoid contacts. Your options then are to replace the starter solenoid contacts if you can find them, replace the starter itself with a new or rebuilt one, or have the current starter rebuilt by an auto electrical rebuilder, if you can find one of them in your area. The last option is the one I prefer. I have found that these shops do a better job in reuilding than the mass rebuilders that most auto parts stores use.

Read this article from page 1 of our FAQ's:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...id#post3196086

Mike

[hittmann81]

Hmmm sorry about not posting the year of the car..... I figured if people regularly viewed the forum they would've seen my other threads just a couple below this one which explains that it's a 89 SV21 with a 3SFE.

The battery did not have enough charge to start the car. I popped in a new battery and it fired up straight away. I did try the obvious things first like tapping the starter shifting the trans back and forth.

The starter was not clicking at all i was getting only the relay click... i know this because i put my ear to it to see what the clicking was while my brother trying to turn it over. Which is why i went and bought a new relay. I was also only getting a check engine light no other dash lights were showing while in the ON position.

I popped the battery back into the camry when i got home and again no start. Popped it in VK commodore and that started fine. Went for a drive around the block a few times tried it in the camry again and still doesn't start with that battery. Tested the battery with a volt meter and it shows 12.5v the same as what the new battery is showing.
Previous to this i was driving around for a couple of days with no problems.

Past repairs on this that i have done have been mechanical not electrical. Water pump and belts were changed around 10,000km ago front discs and rear drums replaced around 30,000km ago along with both power steering hoses. Water Inlet housing was replaced last weekend. I've got new shocks front and back that I've not replaced yet but will do soon.