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OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can this be??????????????????!!!!!!

Started by Rick Biarritz, June 11, 2009, 04:13:25 PM

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Rick Biarritz

I was screwing around with the arm/blend door, when the system stopped blowing air, the panel with all the temp. info. went blank, and now the car is completely dead.  No sound at all when I turn the key.  Every 15 to 30 seconds, I hear a click, the lights get dim and then they get bright again.  The click comes again, they get dim, they get bright, etc.  What gives????

collector

check to make sure your battery is good. Or even check too see if you have corrosion on the terminals. Clean them and try and see if that works. As for your blend air door those usually go bad. You will have to have it changed out. That was a serious problem with those ac units

Rick Biarritz

I jumped the car and it started.  It SEEMS like a battery problem, but I'm a little hesitant to accept the coincidence of a battery going bad the very moment I'm jacking around with the ac problem. 

Rick Biarritz

Quote from: collector on June 11, 2009, 04:24:05 PM
check to make sure your battery is good. Or even check too see if you have corrosion on the terminals. Clean them and try and see if that works. As for your blend air door those usually go bad. You will have to have it changed out. That was a serious problem with those ac units

Update...  I jumped it and it started and ran for about 20 seconds.  Then died.  Jumped again, and it ran for 10 minutes until I turned it off.  Put the glove box back together and it's dead again.  NO sound when I turn the key.  If I get a clicking sound, that's a dead battery right?  What does NO sound mean?  Thanks for the help. 

Guidematic


Just check to make sure the charging system is OK. Use a voltmeter on the battery. It should be about 14V with the engine running and a fully charged battery.

Mike
1970 Fleetwood Brougham 68169
1985 Eldorado Coupe 6EL57
1988 Eldorado Biarritz 6EL57
1990 Brougham d'Elegance 6DW69
1994 Fleetwood Brougham 6DW69

Otto Skorzeny

A clicking sound is the starter relay making noise. It may indicate a battery that has insufficient juice to crank. It may also indicate a problem with your connections. The relay is getting juice but the starter isn't.

When there is no sound at all, that usually means a dead battery but could also be caused by bad connections, car in drive instead of park, etc.

Do accessories and lights work?

Test the battery.
fward

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Guidematic

 A low battery will cause the same thing. It makes a clicking sound at the solenoid, but there is insufficient power to engage the starter. Let's try and keep things simple here.

Mike
1970 Fleetwood Brougham 68169
1985 Eldorado Coupe 6EL57
1988 Eldorado Biarritz 6EL57
1990 Brougham d'Elegance 6DW69
1994 Fleetwood Brougham 6DW69

collector

Just like I said. You might have had the door open or the switch on while working on the car. Check the connections for corrosion then if that is ok take the battery to a local parts house and see if the battery will hold a charge if not replace the battery if so then you may need an alt. If you jumped the car and it died that usually means you have a bad alt. The car only starts with the battery it doesnt need the battery to stay running. If you turn on the autolamps it will also shut the car down if the battery is bad. Remember any drain on the system will drop the voltage to the alt.

STDog


Rick Biarritz

Okay, here's the latest...  More mysterious, I think.  The battery appears to be dead.  My car savvy neighbor, pointed out that with the door and the hood open and courtesy lights blazing for an hour or two, I probably killed the battery.  He gave me a charger to fix the problem.  Three hours later the needle, which was buried in the dead zone, has moved, but not even 1/4 the way up.  Is this normal?  Also, (you mystery fans are gonna love this) every twenty to thirty seconds, I hear a small ping under the hood.  It is a fairly innocuous sound, much like the noises a car makes after being turned off.  But...  exactly and precisely 3 seconds after that first innocuous ping, there is a 2nd sound that sounds exactly like something electrical being turned on -- a tv, a computer screen, etc.  This has me really scared.  I know that can't be normal. 

STDog

Is the charger sitting under the hood?

If it's a small charger (say 6amps) it will get hot and shut off. A few a few seconds it cools and turns back on.
Watch the charge indicator and see if it fluctuates with the noise in question.

A small 6 amp charger will take while to charge a dead car battery. Hours, probably over night.


If a few hours with the door/hood open drained the batter, you may have some bad cells. I'd recommend having the battery tested.
I recently replaced a batter for that reason. Only 2 years old, but an hour with the door open would drain it (Powering a notebook computer and data logging ODB-II info) New battery doesn't drain as fast.

Rick Biarritz



The charger is sitting on the garage floor.  I don't know how big it is -- it says 12 volts.  Is that big or small?  When the 1st click comes, the needle drops about 1/2 a needle width.  With the 2nd click, the needle goes back up.  What does this tell you? 
Quote from: STDog on June 11, 2009, 10:00:10 PM
Is the charger sitting under the hood?

If it's a small charger (say 6amps) it will get hot and shut off. A few a few seconds it cools and turns back on.
Watch the charge indicator and see if it fluctuates with the noise in question.

A small 6 amp charger will take while to charge a dead car battery. Hours, probably over night.


If a few hours with the door/hood open drained the batter, you may have some bad cells. I'd recommend having the battery tested.
I recently replaced a batter for that reason. Only 2 years old, but an hour with the door open would drain it (Powering a notebook computer and data logging ODB-II info) New battery doesn't drain as fast.

grinch

Rick-

Start with simplest, cheapest things first.  You haven't said if you had cleaned the battery terminals.  Cheap and easy.  Some chargers will make the clicking noises you describe if they can't charge a fully discharged battery or the battery has an internal short.  That is assuming that you're clamping the charger to the terminals and not directly in contact with the battery posts.  Again, the place to start is cleaning the terminals.  I've had many a car towed into the shop due to corrosion between the battery terminals and the battery posts.  I've even had some customers clean the battery terminals without removing them from the battery (aka pouring baking soda on them to make them appear clean) and the problem would remain.  Please forgive me if I'm too simplistic, I don't intend to offend.  It just sounds like you're starting at assuming that there's something wrong with your car and that you contributed to it in some way.  It may just be a small problem. 
Peter Mason CLC #24665
Charlotte, NC
1968 Deville Convertible in progress
1989 Sedan DeVille

The Tassie Devil(le)

The best way to charge up a battery is to disconnect it from the Vehicle, and make sure the top caps are loosened, if it has screw-on caps.

Bruce. >:D

'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Mike Josephic CLC #3877

I believe that the "ping" your hearing, combined with the fluctuations of the meter on
the charger, is the internal protection circuit (circuit breaker) in the charger going off
and shutting the unit down.  That protects the charger from burning up when it's
shorted out.

It's shutting the charger off due to an internal problem in your battery -- it's either
sulphated (most likely) or has one or more dead cells.

Corroded terminals are also possible, but I believe the previously mentioned causes are
more likely based on your description.  I've seen this many times before.

Mike
1955 Cadillac Eldorado
1973 Cadillac Eldorado
1995 Cadillac Seville
2004 Escalade
1997 GMC Suburban 4X4, 454 engine, 3/4 ton
custom built by Santa Fe in Evansville, IN
2011 Buick Lucerne CX
-------------------------------------
CLCMRC Museum Benefactor #38
Past: VP International Affiliates, Museum Board Director, President / Director Pittsburgh Region

STDog

Quote from: Rick Biarritz on June 11, 2009, 10:14:28 PM

The charger is sitting on the garage floor.  I don't know how big it is -- it says 12 volts.  Is that big or small?
They are all 12V (though some also operate in a 6V mode). Big or small is the charging current, and generally correlates with the physical size (related to cooling).

Basic home use charger is a small 6A charger that has a 2A mode for trickle charge and a 6V mode. Newer versions have a 4A setting and possibly 10A instead of 6A. Runs $20-50. A big charger is 200A or more, and cost upwards of $300. Some in between option exist too.

Quote
  When the 1st click comes, the needle drops about 1/2 a needle width.  With the 2nd click, the needle goes back up.  What does this tell you? 

Tells me a relay on the car is switching off, reducing the current draw, then turning back on.

Turn everything in the car off and close all the doors, and turn off the hood light (lower the hood/remove the bulb/close the switch)

The relay should stop toggling.

Rick Biarritz

Everything is off and the hood is lowered so the hood light is off.  What about a kill switch installed by the previous owner under the dash to deter theft?  Could that be clicking? 

Rick Biarritz

Never mind.  Just flipped the switch, and the clicking continued.  However, the charger was indicating 75 percent charged, I flipped the switch, looked again, and suddenly it was 100 percent charged.  I turned the switch again, and it remained at 100 percent.  Strange or not?

Wayne Womble 12210

Quote from: Rick Biarritz on June 11, 2009, 05:38:49 PM
Update...  .  If I get a clicking sound, that's a dead battery right?  What does NO sound mean?  Thanks for the help. 

A Deader battery.  :D

grinch

Peter Mason CLC #24665
Charlotte, NC
1968 Deville Convertible in progress
1989 Sedan DeVille