NEED HELP............BATTERY PROBLEMS, I THINK

[vinny2]

Battery has been checked and I'm told it's good. It's less than a year old. Car won't start, but if i jump it with charger/starter, it cranks in less than 5 minutes. After running for awhile, after i turn off, it won't start again unless i jump it again.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[94RT10Ohio]

Ummmm.... Battery or battery cable. Try jumping directly from the battery cables at the battery and not the terminals under the hood, if it jump starts then it is the battery.

Also when it will not start, I assume it does not turn over? Does the radio play? If you honk the horn is it loud or is it weak?

 

[vinny2]

doesn't turn, just clicks. Radio works, and horn is loud ( normal)

does this narrow down possibilities?

 

[txlen]

check the connections on the batt for corrosion and if they are tite......if they tested the battery did they do it in the car??...or out of the car??...how did they perform this test???

 

[vinny2]

good question. i will find out. i checked the cables myself and they were tight with no corrosion.

thanks.

 

[NOTV8]

How old is your battery? Is it the original that came with the car? If it is, you need to change it. If you will not use the car even for a couple of weeks you need to connect your battery minder. The viper will drain your battery even for that short time. I found that the hard way.

 

[joe117]

I'm guessing that you checked both the battery terminal connections for corrosion and the point under the hood where the battery cable connects to the terminal post. Also the ground connection to the chassis on the non battery end of the negative battery cable.

All those need to be solid connections.

You said you were jumping the car to start it. If you jumped it at the battery itself, that would tend to rule out bad connections other than the battery to cable connections.

The fact that your battery is "good" doesn't mean that it is fully charged. Make sure of that.

Low current items like lights and radio may work fine even with a poor or corroded contact in the battery connections.

When the heavy current drain from the starter begins to flow, it isn't really uncommon for a marginal connection to refuse to conduct.

 

[joe117]

If you have a good battery that is charged to a reasonable degree, there is no need for any battery tender.

The Viper, with no electrical problems, doesn't drain your battery any more than any other car.

You should be able to leave your car, unused and un recharged for a couple of months at a minimum, probably much longer.

A small battery tender will not hurt anything, use it if you want.

However, if your Viper NEEDS a battery tender, there is an electrical problem causing a current drain.
Don't mask that problem with a battery tender.

You may be sorry if you go on a weekend trip.

 

[andrew8896]

Sounds like the car isnt charging the battery or you have a bad battery/connection ("after running awhile the car wont start").

I have a battery tender on both cars, I love it, mostly just to keep the battery up when I am listening to the radio while working on the car in the winter time and I am only starting the car every few weeks.

 

[andrew8896]

Sounds like the car isnt charging the battery or you have a bad battery/connection ("after running awhile the car wont start").

What do the connnections look like? What kind of battery do you have?

I have a battery tender on both cars, I love it, mostly just to keep the battery up when I am listening to the radio while working on the car in the winter time and I am only starting the car every few weeks.

 

[Jay Herbert]

Although a low probability, there is a 30 amp fuse in the harness just below the under hood jumper cable connector, sometimes this fuse gets corroded. Pull it, and give the blades a quick cleaning with contact cleaner and scotch-bright, and reinsert. This fuse once gave me trouble starting my car. I have an RT, but pretty sure it is still in the GTS harness.

 

[NguyenJ]

If he has to jump it everytime and someone told him the battery is good, wouldn't you suggest he check his alternator. It could be that it's not recharging the battery. Or very simple bad battery.

 

[joe117]

If you have a voltmeter, check the voltage at the battery or at the Positive terminal under the hood with the car not running.
You will see about 12 volts if the battery is good and charged reasonably.

Then start the car and measure the voltage again. With the car running you should see about 14 volts.

If you don't see much of a difference it could mean your alternator is bad.

If you do see the 14 volts with the car running, I would suspect a bad battery.

Again, the battery tender isn't needed for normal off season storage. Play the radio in the winter, hook up a battery tender.

The problem with those things is this, let's say your car's problem is the alternator. You might not know that it isn't charging because the battery tender keeps the battery up.

Then you go away for a weekend and you get stuck with a dead battery.

Other than that, there is no downside to a battery tender. It just isn't needed.