Just a quick question that is bothering me. Would a totally "shot" battery keep a car from running even if the alternator is working to its full potential? :whoa:
Here's the scenario: Its a 92 Buick Roadmaster, jump started it and left it run for a couple of minutes with the jumper cables and about 1 minute after removing them the car sputtered and shut off. I know the engine runs fine and that is not the reason it shut off (or sputtered) on its own. :cool:
I think you have to measure the voltage at the battery when the engine is running to see if the alternator is working. In ye olde times, you could disconnect the battery with the engine running to see if the alternator was working or not (car dies if it's not).
Has an old school no maintenance lead plate acid bath (Interstate) battery just go flat dead one day. No nothin' wouldn't jump nada. I picked up a new Optima and popped it in and the truck has run fine every since (8 years or more). I found out that at least one of the plates broke and shorted the battery out most often caused by bouncing around off road which was very possible in my case. Now when I have a stock battery that needs replaced I only go with Optimas except in the case of my Miata which I installed a similar Odyssey because of the size.
An Odyssey in a Miata! :whoa: :yikes: Why!!!! I should kick your ass. :yell: Pull over. :nener: :rotfl:
mmz77.
You may also want to check the alternator like Lou said to make sure it is still charging. When a battery goes completely dead, it can also short out the diodes in the alternator.