Quote:
Originally Posted by Frodo
Got a battery/alternator question. The battery in the Box is a few years old---I neglected to record WHEN I bought it (contrary to my usual practice), so I don't know exactly how old. Anyway, the car's been in storage since about December and has, for almost that entire period been on a Ctek battery maintainer. (My kid's got a battery out of his Celica in the garage that we'll switch the maintainer over to for a week or two from time to time. But it's been on the Boxster battery for at least 2-3 wks straight now.) The maintainer was indicating "Green", ie that the battery should be good to go, when I removed it to crank up the car for the first drive of spring---it's like 65 out and gorgeous 
But when I went to start her all I got was the "click-click-click" one associates with a dead battery. After a few tries, I also started to get the idiot lights flashing and the window motors engaging for a brief fraction of a second whenever I'd try to turn her over. As I recall, that's the kind of symptoms I got several years ago when I needed a rebuild on the alternator. I get trunk lights, radio, etc, but when I tried the headlights I get nothin'.
Battery? If so, why would the Ctek indicate "Green"?
Alternator? A car should start with a bad alternator as long as the battery's okay, right?
Theories? |
Contrary to popular beliefs, a battery on a maintainer can still die. The Ctek is holding it at the correct voltage, but the battery itself can no longer generate the amperage required, even though it has voltage.
Get the battery load tested; if it passes, check your cables for corrosion and resistance.