Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

[keithwand]

Started the car and it just seemed like it had a slight hesitation in catching.
Drove it a few miles and parked it for 1/2 hour.
Went to leave and all I get is a clicking noise when turning on the ignition the the alarm turns on and beeps.
Trunk light looks bright, overhead lights look bright, battery window shows green etc. but after using cables to jump; nothing. Just the clicking noise.
The battery is the original 6 year old and spends most of the time on a battery tender.
Tomorrow when the dealer is open I'll try a new battery and hope this is it.
Any suggestions that it might be something else?

[Gobird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Keith, Nope, I think that's your problem.

[keithwand]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Spence; it was the battery. I went to Sears since the dealer was closed.

Thanks to finding your instructions and pictures I was able to get the battery, take out the old and install the new and return the old to Sears in 1 hour total time.

Without your pictures and instructions on the site I would not have known to pop out the pins and black trim or thought about removing the spare.

Only prob. I had for a few moments was finding where the vent tube went back into the body of the car. I finally saw some oily looking substance around the hole and the distance was right and tada!

Phew!

[Gobird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Glad it worked out. I didn't know Sears carried a battery for our cars with the correct breather tube.

[keithwand]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

They called it a model Diehard Gold 65. $109.99 w/ 36 month full replacement and the 64 prorated for 100 months total.
The guy that rang it up did not think it was the vented type like the guy had told me over the phone but then the other guy showed up and showed us both where the vent tube goes.
I assume I didn't have to punch anything out as I just placed the tube over the opening and then to the drain hole in the car.

[Gobird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Should work, without seeing it.

[snowbird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Why would it not start with jumper cables ?

[Gobird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Martin, If the battery was dead enough that won't work.

[snowbird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Spence: So, if you were out on the road and battery died, it is no use to get a jump to start the car ? I could understand that if the alternator was not charging. Always thought the battery is only there to start the car (except in todays cars with memory etc.) and once it is running, you can throw the battery away.

[V8 Cat]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Always thought the battery is only there to start the car (except in todays cars with memory etc.) and once it is running, you can throw the battery away.

I used to think this, but I had one vehicle that was jump-started and would run but would not stay running at idle. Then another vehicle was jump-started by a roaside assist at my home, and he had to use his wreckers battery wired in parallel with a portable jump-starter to get enough power to start the car. This is unusual though because a jump-start from another running vehicle will usually do the job.

[snowbird]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

That would make sense if battery was totally dead and rpm is below keeping alternator in positive mode. this was so much easier with the older cars as you could set the rpm up a bit to get to neerest garage. Think I will still keep the cables in the Bird however.

[DonRich90]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

Spence: So, if you were out on the road and battery died, it is no use to get a jump to start the car ?........

Sometimes, if you keep the cables on and run the donor car for 10 - 15 minutes, you maybe able to build up enough charge in the dead battery to start the car. It's always worth a try.

Don

[Ediron]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

When my battery died it was dead.Tried with a portable jumper nothing then a set of boosters nothing.It seems if the battery in the Bird's go dead they are gone.Florida heat also cooks a battery most warranty's are 3yrs. on the best battery's.

[keithwand]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

It was strange. The trunk light was on and bright, same with headlights etc. but just not enough volts to turn it over. A call to the dealer confirmed this.
So new battery and battery tendered it over night for a full charge which took from 5P to 9A this morning.
Guess 6 years was just to long before replacing.
Glad it didn't happen at Orlando airport tomorrow when I drop off Liz; then it would have been towed.

[V8 Cat]

Re: Battery Gave Out. Think its the battery...

So new battery and battery tendered it over night for a full charge which took from 5P to 9A this morning.

I just got a new Motorcraft battery and had about the same experience. Don't they charge these things before they install them? Makes me wonder if they just pulled it off the shelf and installed it with no charging at all.