Dead 2 yr. old Battery?

[86GmLsCoupe]

I was driving my car the Saturday night in the little mini -snow thing we had and got home fine and parked. The car sat Sunday and then wouldn't start Monday. No clicks, no dim lights, nothing. After work I came home and put the Deka battery tender on it overnight to let it slowly build up. Tuesday I checked it and the lights on the charger indicated a battery fault or crossed terminals (they weren't). So I disconnected and then reconnected and jumpers and it started to charge again. This evening I took the tender off and got some cranking but no start. Then I took a jumper pack and got it the car started with that. The second I turned the jumper pack off the car died. Should I assume the battery is a goner? It's only about two years old. It's a Deka made in Dec. 05 with 930 CCA. I'm going to bring it back to the garage I got it and see what they say. I also checked to make sure I didn't have the interior lights clicked on, or if the glove box light was staying on and they were all off. Anyone had a battery go like that on them?

[86VickyLX]

I was driving my car the Saturday night in the little mini -snow thing we had and got home fine and parked. The car sat Sunday and then wouldn't start Monday. No clicks, no dim lights, nothing. After work I came home and put the Deka battery tender on it overnight to let it slowly build up. Tuesday I checked it and the lights on the charger indicated a battery fault or crossed terminals (they weren't). So I disconnected and then reconnected and jumpers and it started to charge again. This evening I took the tender off and got some cranking but no start. Then I took a jumper pack and got it the car started with that. The second I turned the jumper pack off the car died. Should I assume the battery is a goner? It's only about two years old. It's a Deka made in Dec. 05 with 930 CCA. I'm going to bring it back to the garage I got it and see what they say. I also checked to make sure I didn't have the interior lights clicked on, or if the glove box light was staying on and they were all off. Anyone had a battery go like that on them?

Deka? I got one actually, thing died on me a million times. The cars fault though. One time for non charging alternator, bad terminal hookups, glovebox light on. Stuff like that. Battery holds 12.5 volts. Alone.

[gadget73]

i had a Neverstart do that to me, 3 months old. It was about a week after the alternator was found to be shot, so its possibly related. Fine one weekend, next weekend it wouldn't go. Tried to charge it, and it wouldn't even take a charge.

[Lincolnmania]

check the defroster switch

[gadget73]

hm, actually, if you shut the booster off, and the engine died, that means the alternator wasn't charging either. The battery is probably flat, but even so, it should idle from the alternator's output.

[86GmLsCoupe]

I checked the defroster switch to Scott, I thought I was just being a moron and left the int. lights or you know when the glove box latches badly, that one will stay on to. Everything was off. My brother used to work some at that garage and I got my trans done by his partner, so I don't think they'll hassle me if I bring it in to test it. If that checks out, I'll see about the alt. The alt is fairly recent, just about 2 years as well and is the supposedly a heavier duty version of the 60 amp 2g. For the 20 secs it was running, the alt was pretty whining pretty loudly, but I figured it trying to charge at max. If its that alt I'm putting my car on the damn tow dolly and making an appointment with Scott unless my dad will break his pledge and work on a Ford.

[Nathan in MI]

Have you checked the battery connections?

[cld783]

i had a Neverstart do that to me, 3 months old. It was about a week after the alternator was found to be shot, so its possibly related. Fine one weekend, next weekend it wouldn't go. Tried to charge it, and it wouldn't even take a charge.

haha thats great.. me and a friend of mine were joking around about that one day, saying they should be called neverstart... he went through like 4 of em and kept going back to walmart to buy them every time.

[86GmLsCoupe]

Have you checked the battery connections?

I checked the connections and there's no corrosion. The cables were changed with the battery so I dunno what to think so far. If the alternator is bad, its getting the 3g conversion. I'm tired of flickering lights. I always heard Deka was a good brand and it's a larger size than stock.

[gadget73]

haha thats great.. me and a friend of mine were joking around about that one day, saying they should be called neverstart... he went through like 4 of em and kept going back to walmart to buy them every time.

They might not be the best battery, but Walfarts are everywhere, and usually they don't argue too much at the counter. If this one lasts close to its 3 year replacement, I'm taking it back for a new one anyway. I honestly don't even care who makes the batteries in my vehicle, as long as it works, or I can warranty it somewhere if/when it gives me shit, I'm fine with that.

[86GmLsCoupe]

The battery is fine or at least should be, it's got about 9 volts or so and is out of the car on the trickle charger now. The car was started using the portable jumper and the alternator was still very loud. After I turned the car off, my dad held a heavy wrench up to the alt and it stuck like a fridge magnet. So... 3g time. Only got maybe 2 years out of this crap 2g and I'm tired of dealing with them.

[86GmLsCoupe]

Hey everyone, I have some questions since I'm going 3G. I gathered info from all the forum posts, fordfuelinjection.com, rjminjectiontech.com, and oldengine.org. So from what I've and understood, I'll write out my plan and please correct me if I get something wrong.

1. I can use a 1995 Mustang 5.0 - 3G small case (7inch)-12:00 130 amp.
2. The 3G should bolt into place of my 86 Merc's 2G internally reg. without any bracket changes.
3. I need 3G regulator plug pigtail and stator plug pigtail if not already equipped.
4. I need to reuse the pulley from the 2G to retain stock belt size.
5. 125 amp inline fuse
6. 1-4 gauge wire for new wiring.
7. I need to use new metric adjustment bolt.

I'm confused about the plugs though. According to oldengine.org you
-plug regulator plug into regulator
-cut the output wires and stator wire out of the 2G plug.
stator wire is 18 gauge white/black
output wires are 10 gauge red/black wires
-connect the stator wire to the one wire stator pigtail and plug into the stator plug
-attach the two output wires together with a ring terminal that fits onto the output stud, slip onto stud.

Does that sound correct? I'm just confused somewhat about the wiring. Is there a way to make this plug and play. Thanks in advance.

[86GmLsCoupe]

Just an update. The new alternator came in and Dad and I put in on the car, it's a New Advantage one. The new alt bolted up perfectly with no issues at all. It's test sheet shows it puts out 171 amps under full load with a voltage set point of 14.8 volts, and its max power is 2308 watts. So I think this will definitely eliminate the dim flickering lights. I'm just waiting for the cable, harness, and fuse holder & fuses (175 amps) to come in now. I went with a waterproof digital fuse holder instead of the standard mega-fuse because it was a good deal, I now get to see the actual voltage, and I think it'd be a nice extra to have. Will try and get pics of the install and keep you all posted.