F-Body Europe

As the weather finally cleared a bit, that is, no rain, no extreme winds, I decided to get to work with my light project again ... checked the light switch, which seems to carry the 12V I need to feed the head lights. Ground's no problem, so I have everything I need (except that it's permanent 12V ... oh well ... that way the flash-to-pass will work even if the ignition is off ... Who knows, might need to pass a 'stang some day while the motor is off ). As I only got some 11V there, which was the same I got off the plug in the center console, I tried to start the car and see if it would feed the full 12V ...

All I got was clicking noise at about 2Hz. No starter.

Checked everything, plugged everything back together (had the light switch out at the time, plus the cables coming from the steering base, plus the driver airbag). Still nothing. Had suspected maybe the alarm system being screwed up, keeping power from the starter (as it wouldn't even do _anything_ ... I know the sound the old 200 Benz my dad had some 15 years ago would make with the battery down ... it would at least turn some ...). Of course, if it had been the alarm, no way for me to do anything ... the problem then was, that the car was halfway out the garage, roof down, windows down. Closing the roof isn't a problem, just open the valve in the trunk, and you can close it by hand. But the windows wouldn't budge, which gave me an idea ... (I don't think the alarm cuts power to the windows )

As the car place had already had problems with the battery before they sold me the car (supposedly it's a new battery ... ?!), I borrowed a charger from a neighbor (he sure has lots of stuff handy ... ) and charged it for an hour ... hooked it up again, and it started ... phew. I was really afraid I messed something up ... put some 40km on the car to do some more charging ... hopefully, it'll keep up till Saturday ... going down to a friend and having the motor washed and paint the calipers ...

Could there be something wrong with the alternator? The dash board gives me some 14V or so on the scale while the motor is running ... !? Could the alarm be pulling so much power that the battery is run down in 10 days? (was down in Biebesheim with it, so the battery should have been full)

Oh well ...

Garry How old is the battery ?
How are your batt cable connections?
I always suspect the battery first.
You should be able to load test it at the craft shop. Takes all of about 15 seconds.

They said they put in a new one when I got the car, as the old one was dead ... no tellin', maybe they just charged it ...


They don't look too bad, just a very slight bit of corrosion on the + side, which wiped off mostly when I removed the contacts to charge it ...


As the car place still will have to do some work to it (on waranty - got some minor things, plus the gasket on the transmission and gears - which they have not been able to get in about 4 weeks now!), I'll have them check it again - the battery has a little window on it, which says that if it's green, you can do a load check, and if it's dark, to charge it first - it was pitch black yesterday evening ... didn't check after I came back from the ride ...

Tnx, -gg

Garry Might also check up the from the lead post , to see if you have any corrosion creeping up the cable under the insulation.

But my money is on the battery.