So here is the deal, I replaced the battery and the alternator. When I jump the car it runs fine voltage is at a solid 14v. If I turn the car off it will do like a half a crank and won't turn over and the Batery won't have enogh Juice to crank it to start. If I have the car running and shut it off and try and start it right back up it won't crank enogh to start and the battery will be too dead to turn it over (11v). Like I said new battery and new alternator. Please someone help.

 

Do you have the shaker stereo? 500 or 1000?

 

500. I was thinking I had a drain somewhere but I shut the car off and tried to restart it and it wouldn't turn over. I also put the battery on a slow charge last night and the car started on its own first thing this morning but I could tell it was having a big problem... Cranked really slow. I read about the 500's amps staying on and draining the batt but their is no way that it would kill it that fast.

 

Could it be the starter? I'm thinking maybe its drawing more amps than the battery can put out and then it won't start? I have been jumping it with one of those jump boxes. I'm thinking that maybe that is pumping up the amps to get the starter to turn and start the car? I'm running out of ideas.

 

I've heard about the shaker problem too but I'm not sure. Hoping someone better in these problems chimes into help ya

 

Since it runs fine after you get it started and you have good voltage at the battery you know your charging system is ok meaning your altenator is good.

Your problem is in the starting system. Before you go out and buy another part on a guess do these things first.

First check your connections. It could be something as simple as a bad connection at the ground wire or corrosion on the cables at the battery or starter.

Just because the battery is new to you doesn't mean it hasn't been sitting on a shelf for months. Take it back to where you bought it and have them do a load test on it. They should be able to do it for free. If not take it to like an autozone and they can test it for you. It may be a bad battery and it won't take a charge.

If you have something drawing from your battery there is a simple way to test that. Get one of those cheap 12v testers that looks like a pointed screwdriver with a wire sticking out of the other end. It should be clear with a light inside.

You can test the tester by putting the point on one battery post and the wire end to the other post. It should light up.

Disconnect your positive battery cable. Now put one end of the tester on the positive battery post and the other end on the positive cable. Your tester wired in between the two.

If the tester lights up then you will know you have something drawing current from your battery. Go to your fuse box and start pulling fuses one at a time. When the tester light goes out after you pull a fuse you will then know that's the system that is causing the draw. If it's your stereo fuse then you will know that is where your draw is coming from.

 

I didn't tighten the battery terminals well and it wouldn't start sometimes.

 

Thanks guys for taking the time to post some usefull info. When I get home I'm gonna rip into it and ill post back.

 

to build on what is stated above if you have a multimeter yo u can do the same thing. Just flip it over to 10A and put it inbetween the positive cable and the positive post on the battery. It should then give you a readout of how many amps are beign drawn while the car is off. around .1-.15 amps is a fairy normal draw with our cars. and give it around 5 seconds for the dome lights to turn off after you complete the circuit.

 

Gonna keep an eye on this one.. Good luck and be sure to post your results

 

welp I pulled the + cable and checked to see if I had power like Mavrick said, and it was reading 2V. So I started pulling fuses. did'nt make a difference, and that got me thinking about residual power stored in the radio and other things. After about 3-4 min it went down to 1V then to 0V. So does that sound like residual power stored in the car to you guys? PRMTX I have a Fluke T5 tester but the AMP reader is for AC current so I guess I need to get an DC AMP checker? This is making me nuts because my car is stock inside, no aftermarket radio or anything. I have the battery out of the car no and I'm charging it to see if it just drains down on it's own or if it will even keep a charge.

 

OK, just got back from Walmart and the battery was bad! UGH! this is the LAST time I cheap out a battery... Thanks for your help guys.

 

so you got another new battery and all if good now? I was thinking starter the whole time I was reading the posts. But hey if its all good now great news

 

So it was the battery? I had a feeling it was either the battery or the starter. Gotta watch that starter too. I had to replace the starter in my car...

 

I'm glad you figured it out and it was just the new battery and it didn't cost you any more money.

I was guessing it was the battery and not the starter since it would start when you jump started it.

 

It's been 3 days and all is well. I'm guessing that the alternator was going bad and that killed the first battery. So I replaced the battery with a new battery with the warrantee from Walmarts. That new battery was nat holding a charge after a week of use. So I started thinking that the alternator was bad so I just replaced it. I have to say the this was the easiest alternator I have ever changed! EVER! So any hoo I changed the alternator and the battery STILL wouldn't hold a charge! I was just about to buy a new starter and I figured "what the hell, I might as well take it back to the Walmarts and let them hook it up to the puter and see whats what." They hooked it up and said it was toast. Said it was probably the bad alternator that did it in. SO they replaced the batt with ANOTHER new batt (#3) and all is well. Thanks for the info.

 

Good to hear it was just the battery.

To answer your question from ealier if you ever want to check it. You would need a mutlimeter with a 10A DC plug for the leads on it to do the test. Most midrange ones have it these days. I just have like a $25 one from lowes that I used to check mine.