CHARGE !!! HELP!!

[ATFPat]

I have a 87 GT. I put it away for the winter and once/twice a month I would start it up and let it run out for a bit. Today, after a month, I started her up and the battery gauge was in teh middle like there was no charging going on. I ended up driving the car then parked it for 15-30mins while running and noticed that the battery gauge was going down very very slowly. I shut the car off and heard the click-click. I went and got an alt. but it was the wrong fit. The battery, Alt were replaced just before winter. I m going to get another Alt. but I m afraid its not the problem cause that d be too easy. Its this comon and can someone tell me what to check for (Wires) and where their located?

I need to get her running in the next few days.

[Rollinthundr]

I think you just have a bad battery. You should invest in a battery tender to keep it charged when you store it.

[ATFPat]

Yea, I m gonna have it tested. We did jump it and the battery gauge went up but when we took off the jumper cables its just starts to go down really really slow. Could the battery be bad and not hold a charge even only a few months old? I m hopeing its this simple.

[MonteCitan]

If a battery's bad or not, if the battery was able to fire the car up initially.. An alternator should show ~14-15 volts to the battery when the car's running. It's up to the battery to hold the charge or not..

IF you bought a 'remanufactured' alternator from Advance/ Auto Zone/ pep boys/ etc I would say that's your problem...

[Matthew]

If you are using a stock type alternator, check your voltage with the car running. If it is less than 14 volts, seriously consider changing to a 3G alternator. A lot of BS problems disappeared for me when I swapped in the 3G, and I don't even have a radio in the car!

-Matthew

[ATFPat]

Yea I got the alternator test three times today. Its a Boseh performance alt. I did get one at a parts store yesterday and it didnt charge either. The car runs and dosen't stall (Ran for like 10 mins-20mins) just the volt gauge is very low. When I turn on the lights etc, they dont dim or anything. Its just when I shut the car off itll click. But if I let it sit for a min or two it ll crank a bit then die out. I know the car was sitting in the warehouse and I heard that even though its a few months old (Battery) the cold could have killed the battery to which it dosen't hold a charge. I m gonna have the battery tested tommorrow. I see no corrorsion on the battery terminals near the plugs that connect into the alt.

[ATFPat]

Was the starter relay thing on the fender. Thanx guys !!

[svtlx]

wut matt said...a 3g alt.....i put one on ,my stang too....had to do a lil modifying but it works awsome...better than that 75amp bullshit.

[drewmo50]

a disconnected battery should have at least 12.8 volts or more... for every 2/10 you are under that reading, you lose 25% of your CRANKING power... so if you are reading your battery at 12.4.. your battery is only at 50 percent cranking compacity. sounds like a dead cell. ohh, and i'm not sure, but you may check for a fusable link between the alternator and the battery this can sometimes cause a problem.