Is my battery toast?

[JayBee]

Well I went in the garage to show a friend that everything works after I put the dash together and as soon as hitting the top lift switch everything went dead. No interior lights, no headlights, no horn, not even the clock. BUT, everything worked fine yesterday and I disconnected the negative before coming in last night. Anyway after a few minutes (and him laughing) the clock did start working but stopped the second I tried anything else electrical. The battery was in the basement during winter and I will be taking it in for a test tomorrow but just thought I'd ask for some opinions. One other thing, if there's a wiring problem could it discharge with the negative disconnected? Thanks...John

[Bullitt-]

Could be a loose connection at the battery the fuse-able link may be mostly fried and plenty of issues occur at the bulkhead connector, doesn't take much battery to run the clock.

[Chryco Psycho]

sounds more like a bulkhead connector problem try some di-electric grease , start checking & cleaning all the connections , possibly a lose wire at the rear of the ammeter also 

[Aussie Challenger]

One other thing, if there's a wiring problem could it discharge with the negative disconnected? Thanks...John

  No, the battery needs both terminals connected to discharge, having said that over a long period the battery will break down internally if it is not kept charged up. Modern batteries are designed to be kept fully charged. 

[73Chally]

I had a similar problem a couple years ago.  As soon as I would start to turn the key, everything would go dead.  A little fiddling with the wires under the hood, and sometimes it would start working again.  Turned out to be a short in the negative battery cable itself.  Are your cables new or old?

[JayBee]

Well the battery checked out AOK. Thanks for all the ideas and responses. To make a long story short...it was bad battery terminal connections. Sorry, but I never would have thought that the connection could be so bad as to not even turn on the interior lights when the door opens. Go figure. I hope you all understand; first everything worked, then nothing, already worked a lot on the car, it was getting late and I was getting frustrated. Sound familiar. Anyway, everything works, I changed the oil, started it up and the itch came back. Weather permitting, the seats will go back in this week and maybe even the first cruise on the weekend. Thanks again guys.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I knew it wasn't the battery. Even with an ounce of life, it would still power the clock. I'm glad you got it solved. 


  Mike

[Robb]

but I never would have thought that the connection could be so bad as to not even turn on the interior lights when the door opens.

Ive had it where it would it would go "click-rrrrr"  and then every thing going dark....    a little jiggle of the cable on the batttery and varoooom. 


It happens.