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New battery worked after install, dead the next day

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Old Jun 10, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

I hooked up one end of neg jumper cable to the neg terminal and the other neg jumper cable to shiny part of the body, started it and just a click and a black instrument cluster. Same as before.
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Old Jun 10, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Originally Posted by Niaboc67
I thought when jump starting it's:
red on dead battery
red on good battery
black on good battery
black on dead battery

You are saying I should put the neg on dead battery and then neg on good battery?

Or put the neg on the dead and the other neg cable on the body of the dead battery car?
Not jump starting.

Just using one of the jumper cables to take the place of a cruddy looking ground wire.

Baking soda neutralizes acid, but cannot restore good contact by itself nor scrape oxidation to expose clean metal. Copper wire oxidizes green.
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Old Jun 10, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Originally Posted by ezone
Not jump starting.

Just using one of the jumper cables to take the place of a cruddy looking ground wire.

Baking soda neutralizes acid, but cannot restore good contact by itself nor scrape oxidation to expose clean metal. Copper wire oxidizes green.

Oh I see what you mean now we are using the jumper cable to represent the negative terminal cable, that's a neat idea. I am at work and will try this with the negative cable off and replace it with the cable when I get home.
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Old Jun 10, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Don't remove the old cable.

Clamp the jumper cable as an additional electrical path.
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Old Jun 10, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Originally Posted by ezone
Don't remove the old cable.

Clamp the jumper cable as an additional electrical path.
I clamped it to the negative connector and to the body of the car. There was no difference.
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Old Jun 11, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

and to the body of the car.
Not the body.

Clean shiny metal on the engine


Also, if the bad connection is between the battery post and terminal clamp, sticking a jumper cable on the outside of the clamp won't do much.
You could try with the battery cable removed as well.
You could repeat this same thing with the + side of the battery but there probably isn't enough room to clamp a jumper on the cable at the starter.....you COULD connect to one of the bolted connections on the fusebox though.


I'm still thinking I could use a test light and have this "electrically dead" problem figured out in less than 5 minutes.
Originally Posted by Niaboc67
When I jiggled around the terminal cable and went back into the car to start it this time all the lights on the dash came on but when I turned the key all black and then when I tried to start it again no lights on the dash came on.
Originally Posted by ezone
Bad connection. Poor electrical contact. Might be good enough to carry 10-15 amps to light the dash and headlights, but not good enough to support 150 amps of starter load. Either keep jiggling or take it apart and clean it up until there is bright shiny clean metal on metal contact at all points. If you have replacement cable ends, you might have bad contact where the wires are attached.No, you've only got a good enough connection to run the lights. It still opens under higher load.A voltage drop check can find the bad connection. I could probably use a test light bulb to find it if I had the car in front of me.
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Old Jun 11, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Originally Posted by ezone
Not the body.

Clean shiny metal on the engine


Also, if the bad connection is between the battery post and terminal clamp, sticking a jumper cable on the outside of the clamp won't do much.
You could try with the battery cable removed as well.
You could repeat this same thing with the + side of the battery but there probably isn't enough room to clamp a jumper on the cable at the starter.....you COULD connect to one of the bolted connections on the fusebox though.


I'm still thinking I could use a test light and have this "electrically dead" problem figured out in less than 5 minutes.

IT STARTED!!!!

I took one negative cable end to the negative post and the other negative cable end to the shiny part of the exhaust manifold. Thank you so much!!

Does this mean I need to replace the whole negative terminal cable or might there be more gremlins?
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Old Jun 11, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Does this mean I need to replace the whole negative terminal cable
You can try to figure out where the bad spot is, or replace. Your choice.

My usual guess is where the oxidized copper is squashed in the cheap clamp at the battery post.



or might there be more gremlins?
Always.
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Old Jun 11, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

GIS for cheapo battery cable clamp

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Old Jun 11, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Originally Posted by ezone
You can try to figure out where the bad spot is, or replace. Your choice.

My usual guess is where the oxidized copper is squashed in the cheap clamp at the battery post.



Always.
Okay, I'll make a trip to the auto parts store and then do an autopsy.
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Old Jun 11, 2017
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Re: New battery worked after install, dead the next day

Originally Posted by ezone
You can try to figure out where the bad spot is, or replace. Your choice.

My usual guess is where the oxidized copper is squashed in the cheap clamp at the battery post.



Always.

Thank you!!
So far so good. I installed the new cable and the car started right up. In fact the multimeter displayed better results, 12.7v when off and 14.38v when on. So everything seems good. Thanks once more, I ended up buying one of those electric test tools for future use too.
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