96 Buick Regal Custom- new battery worked for a day. Now car won't start.

[Torcque]

Have a 96 Buick Regal.

Had to replace the belt tensioner. Car ran fine for a day, then the battery was drained. Put in a new battery yesterday (Monday). Came to work, went to lunch, and came back and now car won't start. Only clue was the ABS light coming on, but the brakes are fine. Car has power everything so it needs alot of juice (new battery is 730 Cold cranking amps/car only needs 690 Cold Cranking Amps). I'm thinking the alternator needs to be replaced. Any thoughts?

[Torcque]

BUMP!!

Couldn't edit my post for some reason.

Bought new battery on Monday. Drove car to work and home on Monday with no problem. Tuesday morning, ABS light came on. By Tuesday afternoon when I went to lunch and came back, car would not start. Internal and external lights as well as radio, windows, and door locks all work accept car will not start. Would a brand new battery drain that much within a day if the Alternator in my car is bad? The Alternator charges the battery while the car is running, right? Why would the ABS light be my only clue that there is a problem? A new alternator should cure this problem, right??

[weloveiggy]

What kind of voltage are you getting when the car is running?

I have a 94 Regal with a 3.8L & everything worked OK, except my ABS light kept coming on too. But my voltage was always low & it eventually got down to 9-10 volts. I change the battery & alternator, no change.

Suprisingly enough, I spend 30 minutes cleaning the battery cables, a couple of ground wires on the chassis near the battery & all of terminals near the alternate positive terminal & fuse box.

I haven't had an ABS light or voltage less than 13 volts while the car is running now. I think the ABS system is the first to show a failure with a low voltage situation.

Hope this helps.

[Torcque]

The car started long enough for me to make it to Pep Boys. By the time I pulled into a parking space at Pep Boys, the car died. Wouldn't start. Took out the battery and had them charge and test it. The battery tested at 11.76 amps. That is below the 12 amps needed to start the car. Once fully charged to 13 amps, the battery was confirmed as not being faulty. That only leaves the alternator, which I am changing in the morning but before I do that I am taking your suggestion and cleaning the battery terminals and any other terminals nearby that look dirty. That and the new alternator should take care of the problem. Oddly enough, I hadn't even considered dirty terminals could lower my voltage. THANKS!!

[HotZ28]

Corroded cables can create resistance, which can effect both voltage and amperage draw. I am not too surprised that Pep Boys did not test your alternator before you left. Typical num-nuts! You can check it yourself if you have a DVOM. A fully charged battery should read 12.67 volts and with the engine running, you should measure 13.2 – 14.8v @ the battery terminals.

[Torcque]

The alternator was in the car, so they didn't test it. After the battery was charged and confirmed as not faulty, it showed 13.62 before I put it back in the car. I'm going to pull the battery and clean the terminals before I put it back in and change the alternator. What did you clean your terminals with? Wire brush? Sand paper? Scrape with a knife? I'm cleaning those suckers before putter her back together.

[weloveiggy]

I cleaned them with a wire brush & some battery terminal/corrossion cleaner stuff that I bought at Advance auto. The actual bolts that screw into the side terminal battery will come out of the plastic housing. You can really get them clean once the bolts are out.

But I cleaned the terminals before I installed the battery & still had the same voltage problem later. On my car, along the fender where the alternate positive terminal is, take apart & clean & tighten the basic connections attached to the positive lead, also there are some ground wires on the chassis near the bottom of the battery & also along the fender, while you have the battery out, take a few extra minutes to brush & clean all of the terminals & contact points.

Since I did that, like I said, 13+ volts while running ever since.
Plus, I now realize how bright my headlights & dash lights are supposed to have been.

Good Luck