dylanholt Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 the car will not start unless the battery is being jumped off. I hook the battery up to a meter and it says thats tha battery is good. Both terminals can be disconnected while the car is running with no effect. headlights brakel9ights work while the car is off, but nothing while turn over when i turn the key, unless someone is jumping the car. Now I'm pretty sure its the starter, but i don't want to go buy one and put it on if thats not the problem, Please Help! thankyou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted February 27, 2011 Report Share Posted February 27, 2011 What sort of meter are you testing with? A voltmeter or an ammeter, or a discharge meter from a battery shop? It sounds like the battery has a dud cell, so it puts out 12volts OK, but doesn't have a lot of storage capacity behind it to push out the couple of hundred amps needed for the starter motor. Try the battery in another car, or try another battery in the TE. Its possible but less likely that there is a bad connection in the wiring or solenoid that only works with some extra grunt from a second battery. The second battery doesn't add any voltage, its all still 12V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono1986 Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Both terminals can be disconnected while the car is running with no effect. DO NOT DO THIS!!!! This is extremely bad for your alternator as it will think it needs to apply full output with no where to go...... Also if your using a voltmeter and the car is running you should be getting 13.8 volts. If you can start with a jumper battery but not without one I'd say the battery is screwed, if it's older than say 4 years I'd look into buying a new battery. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke70dave Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 DO NOT DO THIS!!!! This is extremely bad for your alternator as it will think it needs to apply full output with no where to go...... i don't think that is entirely true. after a bit of reading it seems this was only an issue on the old generators, where they were current sensing. (don't quote this!) where as the voltage regulators on alternators these days are exactly that, they regulate the alternators output using voltage 'sensing', when you disconnect the battery you arent changing the voltage at all (but you are changing the current/load which is where the generators had problems) so its happy to keep on truckin'. apparnetly with the generators when you disconnected the battery the load was significantly changed, and the voltage would tend to spike for a second before the sensing equipment caught up, which was what used to cause all sorts of problems. pluss....ive hot swapped batteries from all types of cars (efi, carby, whatever, new, old) and ive never had a drama! don't take read too deep into my little "Explanation", I'm not auto elecy or elec engineer, but thats my take on it all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 .ive hot swapped batteries from all types of cars (efi, carby, whatever, new, old) and ive never had a drama! err... also guilty M'lud. :laff: Just left them idling and whipped the batteries over. With all these electronic computers in modern cars I don't think I'd be so keen to try it now tho'.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono1986 Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 i don't think that is entirely true. after a bit of reading it seems this was only an issue on the old generators, where they were current sensing. (don't quote this!) where as the voltage regulators on alternators these days are exactly that, they regulate the alternators output using voltage 'sensing', when you disconnect the battery you arent changing the voltage at all (but you are changing the current/load which is where the generators had problems) so its happy to keep on truckin'. apparnetly with the generators when you disconnected the battery the load was significantly changed, and the voltage would tend to spike for a second before the sensing equipment caught up, which was what used to cause all sorts of problems. pluss....ive hot swapped batteries from all types of cars (efi, carby, whatever, new, old) and ive never had a drama! don't take read too deep into my little "Explanation", I'm not auto elecy or elec engineer, but thats my take on it all. While I was at tafe studying for my trade they always said never to disconnect the battery while the engine is running, I didn't bother to mention that you get massive volatge spikes when you do this which can cause serious damage to electronic components as it's a te31 and wouldn't have sensitive equipment on board. I just re-read that and I'm not trying to come off like a know it all, just saying that it's the way I was taught. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke70dave Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 but remember electronics have some pretty trick protection circuitry in them too! howeever i sure don't want to test it if i can help it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylanholt Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thank you all, I'm going to snag a battery this afternoon, ill keep you all posted on whether it has fixed the problem or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharpshane Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Did you ever get this fixed? I'm having issues with mine as well. The charge light is on and the battery doesn't charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 The charge light is on and the battery doesn't charge. Your alternator has died... The charge light is telling you that the battery has a negative power flow. Replace or fix the alty, probably brushes or a diode has died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharpshane Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 Your alternator has died... The charge light is telling you that the battery has a negative power flow. Replace or fix the alty, probably brushes or a diode has died. yep replaced the alt. then had to find a wire that would hook up from 'ignition on' so the regulator would turn on. now everthin is chargin :y: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leWolf Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Your alternator has died... The charge light is telling you that the battery has a negative power flow. Replace or fix the alty, probably brushes or a diode has died. So i have a good battery, a new charge regulator, a good ground, and my charge light is dim, unless you put it in reverse then it's bright. Been like that for 2 weeks and seems fine. Probably just a dying alternator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke70dave Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 id say so. i would fix that asap. chuck a multi meter on your battery should be about 13-14V with engine running. and drop to 12v when you turn it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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