[pashad13]

Hi all,

So, after a 45-minute drive, I came back to the driveway and saw the red battery light on the odometer, on, even before I shut off the car. I then shut it off and attempted to turn it back on, but nothing came on. No fan, radio, dash lights, or anything. I then jumpstarted it--it immediately started as normal, but the battery light was still on. As soon as I took the jumper cables off and restarted the car, I get the fan and radio to come on, but the engine won't turn.

Does this mean the alternator is bad and just isn't charging the battery--or is it the battery? Or both?

I figured it isn't the starter that's bad, or else I assume it wouldn't turn even with the jumper cables on...

 

[pashad13]

On a better note: here's a cool aerial shot from today 😎

 

[ghnl]

My first guess is a poor connection between the battery cables and the battery posts, When you connect the jumper cables you are bypassing that connection. Remove the cables, clean and re-secure. If you have bolt-on cable ends get rid of those and buy some new cables. Those devices are temporary fixes.

 

[alfabuilder]

Had to replace the bellhousing to chassis ground. Weak ground strap will give you charging problems and give you no crank condition for start. Use jumper cables to improve chassis to engine grounding. If jumpers solve your issues you know you need to improve the grounding.