Installed a starter, now battery is dead.

Rich · Postby **Rich** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:14

So, I installed a starter on a '98 Cavalier 2.4l today. Car ran fine, everything seemed good. My buddy called me up later and said his car wouldn't start. Seems like he has a dead battery, though I'm still waiting for him to verify that. Is there any reason why a new starter would drain the battery? The manual stated "make sure your battery is fully charged and in good working order before installing a new starter". I don't get it.... :7de539a1:

AIM WO4 · Postby **AIM WO4** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:14

odd

Never heard that one before. Is it Bosch? LOL

tsx_guy · Postby **tsx_guy** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:14

could it just be a coincidence that his battery died too? it its the original it is 10 years old

Rich · Postby **Rich** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:14

Battery is a month old. Jumped it and parked it in his garage for the night. Will have to see if it holds a charge later.

MazdaTom · Postby **MazdaTom** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:14

Did you hook up the cable that goes from the starter to the alternator? They can tend to hang and be obstructed by something and are easy to forget about.

Rich · Postby **Rich** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:14

We hooked up everything we thought. I'll check for that.

coloskydiver · Postby **coloskydiver** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:14

Might hava a short somewhere. Might be one of the connections.

AIM WO4 · Postby **AIM WO4** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:14

OMG. That would suck. :1c05b768:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MazdaTom @ Sep 6 2008, 08:09 AM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=62345]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

Did you hook up the cable that goes from the starter to the alternator? They can tend to hang and be obstructed by something and are easy to forget about.[/b]

MazdaTom · Postby **MazdaTom** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:14

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AIM WO4 @ Sep 6 2008, 03:00 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=62366]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

OMG. That would suck. [/b]

In this case, knowledge comes from experience. I found out with my Saturn that a lightweight Odyssey PC680 racing battery is good for driving a car about 30 miles- half of which was with the headlights. 30 miles was a round trip to work. Started the car the following morning, got to the end of the street with my headlights VERY dim and the ignition struggling to keep the car running. I made it about 50% into my garage before the engine died. Crawled under the car and found a hanging wire harness. OOPS!

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:14

That was my first thought as well. Also you may have just not tighted the wire all the way.

AIM WO4 · Postby **AIM WO4** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:14

Better than forgetting to put the oil plug in, I guess. I had a friend do that once. ONCE!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MazdaTom @ Sep 6 2008, 06:58 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=62375]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

In this case, knowledge comes from experience. I found out with my Saturn that a lightweight Odyssey PC680 racing battery is good for driving a car about 30 miles- half of which was with the headlights. 30 miles was a round trip to work. Started the car the following morning, got to the end of the street with my headlights VERY dim and the ignition struggling to keep the car running. I made it about 50% into my garage before the engine died. Crawled under the car and found a hanging wire harness. OOPS![/b]

DJ · Postby DJ » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:14

hint hint to his problem its a chevy

ProjectMSP · Postby **ProjectMSP** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:14

cavaliers are known for mysterious electrical problems.

we had a customer bring theres to our shop (nissan) and me and my master tech were looking for anything that seemed wrong. The original complaint was the car just died and wouldnt start.

so we started with the easy, checked the fuses, all ok, all connections good.

then we just took the engine fuse block out to get to the connections underneath. everything ok.

then it just started out of nowhere, so who knows, damn chevys

DJ · Postby DJ » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:14

now that i think about it a few months ago my friend had a 99 caviler i think or something like that new battery and it wouldnt start

Installed a starter, now battery is dead.

Who is online