Crewcab wont start

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10-01-2006, 02:43 PM
Sharpe

Crewcab wont start

Well the other night I pulled into my driveway and turned the truck off to run inside and do something. When I cam back out it wouldnt start. It would make a fast paced clicking noise (maybe starter not fully engaging flexplate?) and the interior annoying beeping sound would stutter. The dome lights were also extremely dim and the volt gauge on the dash was reading around 9 volts. The windows would not roll up by themselves until I jumped it off Danny's truck, then the windows rolled up, but they were extremely slow and the interior lights were still really dim. I tried cranking it with the jumper cables hooked up and that did not help at all. I checked all my fuses and have been cleaning all the grounds I can find, but I have not fixed the problem yet. I'm thinking, ignition relay, starter solenoid, starter itself, or ignition lock cylinder. The not starting part seems like it would be easy enough to trace down but the interior lights dimming confuses me. So, any ideas?

PS. the truck is a 98 Chevy K3500 crewcab with Vortec 454.
10-01-2006, 02:45 PM
Sharpe

Also, according to my voltmeter, my battery itself is fine, and the fuseblock in the engine compartment is getting full power.
10-01-2006, 03:31 PM
uglyota

check your grounds :D
sounds like your battery's just weak and you guys need to buy a good set of jumper cables.
also check those stupid-ass screw-in battery terminals. better yet, cut them off and replace with some beefy top post clamps
10-01-2006, 03:45 PM
agjohn02

bad cell in the battery
10-01-2006, 05:06 PM
fbronco86

Quote:

Originally Posted by agjohn02

bad cell in the battery

Yeah I would try a load test on the batt and check the connections
10-01-2006, 05:11 PM
Sharpe

Well I cleaned all the grounds I could find and took the starter to napa to get tested. The battery is a few years old and I've deffinately put it through hell, its a red top optima though. It has top post connections already. I have another red top that was in pigpen thats charging right now, I'm gonna try it later once its charged up. We tried jumping it off Danny's truck and that didnt help at all. Also, the voltmeter on the dash will usually show below 9 volts, but occasionaly it would go up to 12 or so. After I was done poking around with the test light, the positive terminal of the battery was really hot. The engine had not been cranking at all and the negative terminal was not hot so wtf is the deal with that?
10-01-2006, 05:15 PM
StevenAg03

another vote for toasted battery...take it to napa and have it load tested...
10-01-2006, 05:20 PM
fbronco86

Quote:

Originally Posted by afroman006

Well I cleaned all the grounds I could find and took the starter to napa to get tested. The battery is a few years old and I've deffinately put it through hell, its a red top optima though. It has top post connections already. I have another red top that was in pigpen thats charging right now, I'm gonna try it later once its charged up. We tried jumping it off Danny's truck and that didnt help at all. Also, the voltmeter on the dash will usually show below 9 volts, but occasionaly it would go up to 12 or so. After I was done poking around with the test light, the positive terminal of the battery was really hot. The engine had not been cranking at all and the negative terminal was not hot so wtf is the deal with that?

Maybe your starter is a pos and pulling to many amps.
10-01-2006, 09:17 PM
DRAGOONRANCH

x2 on the battery
10-01-2006, 09:49 PM
sasquatch

steal one of dannys batteries and try it out. if it works, go get a new battery
10-01-2006, 10:06 PM
HULK-1

Myne on my chevy has side terminals
10-01-2006, 10:11 PM
sasquatch

what happened to the wally world one in the scout. you drain the **** out of it again?
10-01-2006, 11:59 PM
Sharpe

The cables were too stubby to reach the terminals in the wally world yellow one. I'm gonna let a second optima I have charge overnight and try it out in the morning. I think my charger might not work though, cause its older than Grayson and I left it out in the rain a couple of times. I'll probably go get the original battery tested anyway though.
10-02-2006, 04:46 PM
junior88mj

i would check the pos cable if its hot has bad connection or internal resistance it will read normal voltage with no load
10-02-2006, 07:40 PM
Sharpe

Twas the battery afterall. I feel like an ass for wasting an entire day poking **** with a voltmeter and I even took the starter out just to end up replacing the damn battery. My optima was only 3 years old but I have used it prety hard so oh well.
10-02-2006, 09:53 PM
JB

I am not 100%, but I don't think Optimas are suppose to last any longer that other battteries. I know the red tops have a 3yr warranty, but I wouldn't expect much more. In the past 6 months or so, we have gotten ALOT of Optimas back on warranty, most only lasting 1-2 yrs. I had one in the Bronco that only lasting 3 yrs. (most time spent in the Bronco in the garage). When my Motorcraft battery kicks it, I think I might go with and Exide
10-02-2006, 10:11 PM
Sharpe

Exides are a new closed cell one right? What kind does Feller have in the buggy? I think its a Odessy or something similar but I'm not sure. Does anyone else make dry cells? I decided its not worth the expense to have a dry cell battery in the crewcab but I would like to keep one in pigpen. I still have another red top and the bigass yellow top for pigpen, but since my charger is apparently broken and they are both deader than **** right now they aren't much help.
10-02-2006, 10:16 PM
JB

Quote:

Originally Posted by afroman006

Exides are a new closed cell one right? What kind does Feller have in the buggy? I think its a Odessy or something similar but I'm not sure. Does anyone else make dry cells? I decided its not worth the expense to have a dry cell battery in the crewcab but I would like to keep one in pigpen. I still have another red top and the bigass yellow top for pigpen, but since my charger is apparently broken and they are both deader than **** right now they aren't much help.

I can put it on our trickle charger at work. Most yellow tops take several days on our trickle charger though. I wokr tomorrow 10-5
10-02-2006, 10:17 PM
DRAGOONRANCH

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBrown89

I can put it on our trickly charger at work. Most yellow tops take several days on our trickle charger though. I wokr tomorrow 10-5

great minds think alike....

I have taken a few optimas (reds, yellows and BLUES) that the miltary gets rid of and brought them back to life with the trickle charger...
10-02-2006, 10:18 PM
CheapJeep

I've heard from different sources that because of the increase in warranty issues, optima has raised their prices. I bought my redtop 8 months ago for $100, now they're close to $180.
10-02-2006, 10:20 PM
sasquatch

buy a good charger with a low amp feature(trickle) somewhere. probably not at harbor freight.

wally world batteries are good enough for me. 700 CCA with 3yr free replacement warrenty. $65. i got one and with new starter/solenoid/cables it turns the fords 360 over as fast as the chevys motor.
10-02-2006, 10:22 PM
Doug Krebs

I have a red top from 97. I bought it from lance probably in 2000. It still works like a champ.
10-02-2006, 10:28 PM
JB

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCook527

buy a good charger with a low amp feature(trickle) somewhere. probably not at harbor freight.

wally world batteries are good enough for me. 700 CCA with 3yr free replacement warrenty. $65. i got one and with new starter/solenoid/cables it turns the fords 360 over as fast as the chevys motor.

Probably 50% of the batteries we take in as cores are Everstarts

I think out redtops are like $129, buty yeah, I remember years abck when they were $100 at 4WPW.
10-02-2006, 11:05 PM
Sharpe

I think I'm gonna go to sears sometime soon and checkout their big roll-around chargers. I have one at my shop but I broke the knob off of it and its prety old so I'm gonna look into getting a new one. Deffinately not a cheapo though.
10-03-2006, 08:03 AM
Doug Krebs

Quote:

Originally Posted by afroman006

I think I'm gonna go to sears sometime soon and checkout their big roll-around chargers. I have one at my shop but I broke the knob off of it and its prety old so I'm gonna look into getting a new one. Deffinately not a cheapo though.

I think sam's has the big roll around chargers. Not sure what brand though. I have an "electronic" charger from walmart. They are supposed to be "smart" and change the amps and automatically shut off. From what I've read online they don't charge optimas very well for some reason.
10-03-2006, 08:20 AM
BMFScout

Quote:

Originally Posted by afroman006

I think I'm gonna go to sears sometime soon and checkout their big roll-around chargers. I have one at my shop but I broke the knob off of it and its prety old so I'm gonna look into getting a new one. Deffinately not a cheapo though.

We bought a schultz or some sh it at ho'reilly's. It's a big roll around one. I'm not sure how I lived my life without it. I know I wasted a lot of time waiting for that little sh itty 20 year old charger to kick back on that's for sure. Buy a badass one, I think it was $120 or so and well worth it.
10-03-2006, 09:01 AM
CRaSHnBuRN

Quote:

Originally Posted by afroman006

Exides are a new closed cell one right? What kind does Feller have in the buggy?

I used an exide orbital in my buggy, and will be using one in the 4runner as well. I had a yellow top optima die in less than a year, and just wasn't happy with it for its cost. I got the deep charge excide from napa for less than a hundred bucks, and it worked great. Nothing seemed to faze it. Plus I loved the way it had the two holes through the middle of it that allowed me to build a simple battery tie down