Anybody good with cars...

[Grayeagle]

Anything computer controlled in a car is basically rebooted when you disconnect the battery.
It's a wonder they work at all

As Cap and others have said .. clean connections, especially to ground, are required.
If they get intermittent, you get all kinda weird stuff goin on.

-GE aka Frank

[Fulmar]

Lights coming on is a bad indicator of how much charge a battery has. Lights do not pull much at all.

The old battery probably has a dead cell. When that happens you won't be able to start the vehicle with just a jump.

If the vehicle starts only sometimes with the new battery in it then you need to do a few things.

#1. Clean the cable connectors very good with a wire brush and confirm the cables are not frayed at the cable clamps. (this fixes the problem most of the time)

#2 Check the ground cable to the engine block. (be sure it is connected tightly)

#3 Check the hot cable to the solenoid to be sure it is not lose.



If all those check out ok then the solenoid on the starter may be faulty. The clicking you heard before is actually the solenoid. It'll do that when it is not getting enough power. The solenoids job is to engage the bendix with the flywheel prior to it also energizing the starter motor.

I'm betting the cables are just dirty.

When I was in college I worked as an associate at Batteries Plus (though far from a mechanic).  So I've dealt with hundreds of can battery installs over the years.  Without physically seeing the vehicle , I'm going to actually go out and lean towards this being a starter related issue.  Especially with the intermittenent starting.  It's not taking a jump etc and after it sat for a bit it started etc.  

I don't think its terminal/cable corrosion related.  You REALLY have to have a lot of corrosion on the cables to really affect a good batter from starting, especially on top terminal batteries, side terminals are a different story.  I've see a green christmas tree on top of a '98 Dodge Neon battery and it was still able to start (though just barely).  And if there is a lot of corrosion, its generally a sign of a bad battery.  The batteries will begin to get really hot during use (car running/driving/alternator charging it) and the acid will begin to boil and either 1) vent large amounts of hydrogen gas through the side vents and/or 2) boil enough to spill out the top caps a bit.  Once the acid starts getting to the led terminals and cables, it becomes christmas time.

The Villager's V6 doesn't take a whole lot of power to turn over the engine.  It takes a Group 35 battery rated about 450 CCA to do the job, though to turn it over in a normal climate takes a bit less CCA.  Interstart/Exide/East Penn batteries in Group 35's range from 500 to 550 CCA, more than enough to do the job.  About 95% of your aftermarket batteries are made by these 3 companies, no matter what the label on the side says.

If it was alternator related, either the voltage regulator or the whole unit in general, we would see different symptoms I believe.  A bad voltage regulator would definantly harm the battery, but it should still take a jump start.  A bad alternator would take a jump, but the car would more than likely shut off after the engine is running since its drawing electricity away from the battery and once the battery cannot fulfill the electrical need of the car, it will shut off everything.  Once a vehicle is start, the battery should just sit back and take a charge, unless the alternator (or a cable short somewhere) is draining the battery.

It's possible there is a short in the cars wiring as well.  If there is, the amp requirement to turn over the engine may be astronomical.  I've seen vehicles with faulty fog light wiring that have maxed out a 100 amp charger trying to do a jump start and still failing to start it.

[CAP1]

When I was in college I worked as an associate at Batteries Plus (though far from a mechanic).  So I've dealt with hundreds of can battery installs over the years.  Without physically seeing the vehicle , I'm going to actually go out and lean towards this being a starter related issue.  Especially with the intermittenent starting.  It's not taking a jump etc and after it sat for a bit it started etc.THE very last sentence in this paragraph is the main clue to a bad battery.  

I don't think its terminal/cable corrosion related.  You REALLY have to have a lot of corrosion on the cables to really affect a good batter from starting, especially on top terminal batteries, side terminals are a different story. the corrosion that's causing the problem isn't what you see on top. it's what has fromed in between the terminal and the post. most al of the cars that have something to keep moisture out, will eventually have this problem, as they let it in, then keep it there. i've also seen batterys leak acid out through one of the posts......add some current, and walah!! corrosion.  I've see a green christmas tree on top of a '98 Dodge Neon battery and it was still able to start (though just barely).  And if there is a lot of corrosion, its generally a sign of a bad battery.  The batteries will begin to get really hot during use (car running/driving/alternator charging it) and the acid will begin to boil and either 1) vent large amounts of hydrogen gas through the side vents and/or 2) boil enough to spill out the top caps a bit.  Once the acid starts getting to the led terminals and cables, it becomes christmas time.if the battery is getting hot enough to boil the acid, then there is another problem somewhere. it could be anything from a shorted cell in the battery, causing it to draw too much from the alternator, the corrosion that's causing problems can cause it to draw too much, to an over charging alternator.

The Villager's V6 doesn't take a whole lot of power to turn over the engine.that engine should peak out at 300 amps, then drop to 225-250 under extended crank.  It takes a Group 35 battery rated about 450 CCA to do the job, though to turn it over in a normal climate takes a bit less CCA.  Interstart/Exide/East Penn batteries in Group 35's range from 500 to 550 CCA, more than enough to do the job.  About 95% of your aftermarket batteries are made by these 3 companies, no matter what the label on the side says.

If it was alternator related, either the voltage regulator or the whole unit in general, we would see different symptoms I believe.  A bad voltage regulator would definantly harm the battery, but it should still take a jump start.  A bad alternator would take a jump, but the car would more than likely shut off after the engine is running since its drawing electricity away from the battery and once the battery cannot fulfill the electrical need of the car, it will shut off everything.  Once a vehicle is start, the battery should just sit back and take a charge, unless the alternator (or a cable short somewhere) is draining the battery.

It's possible there is a short in the cars wiring as well.  If there is, the amp requirement to turn over the engine may be astronomical.  I've seen vehicles with faulty fog light wiring that have maxed out a 100 amp charger trying to do a jump start and still failing to start it.

[Fulmar]

Yeah so I don't remember reading that last sentence.  I was under the assumption the OP mentioned nothing about corrosion.  And all valid points CAP1.

[CAP1]

Yeah so I don't remember reading that last sentence.  I was under the assumption the OP mentioned nothing about corrosion.  And all valid points CAP1.

ya...wasn't trying to discount what you put up here.....all this info is good for others to read too. 

[betty]

I hate that betty.  Sounds like your sound system doesn't stay turned off if you turn it off and the power goes out (or the battery completely dies), so as soon as you get some juice from the jump it turns itself on and then eats a power surge.


There are some car converters (I think that's what they're called... been a couple years since I was around "the biz") you can get to minimize any power surges to your audio system, but they require a bit of wireing sometimes... if your system is worth some $ though, it's worth the trouble.  But look into an aftermarket alternator like Cap said if you're eatign through the factory standard ones.  The police ones are pretty robust, probabley too much for what you're using, but there are a lot of aftermarket ones that make enough juice for you audio system and other entertainment goodies.  You won't have to pay a higher dollar for the heavy-duty police alternators, which could power your system, operate the margarita blender in the back seat, and more after-market lights per square inch than Las Vegas.

it does go off when the key is off...but when the bass kicks in..specially at night, my lights will dim. cops dont like blinking lights hehe. i have a thunder cap for it. its just what cap was sayin, it stores power from the batter just for the system so that it doesn't over work the alternator or battery.