Ye_Lunatic
LVC Member
My '94 is acting up again, and a lot of things just kept going wrong tonight.
HOW NOT TO DO THINGS:
I leave my lights on accidently after I parked my car. I couldn't have been gone 5 minutes, but when I came back the car wouldn't start. A friendly neighbor gave me a jump but it didn't do any good. This was an ooold battery and it was cooked.
I walk around the corner to Autozone and buy their Duralast battery for $65. I walk home with it and as I am disconnecting the old negative terminal the bolt gets stuck and it strips. I work on it for 30 minutes and finally get it off by hammering it side to side while prying it upward with a screwdriver. Some of the copper wire was exposed, but I paid it no mind and tried to get the bolt off. Apparently I must have broken some of the copper wires from twisting it. The old Batterry also had no strap so it was a bitch to remove.
Now when I hooked up the new battery the car wouldn't start. The lights would come on then off and it wouldn't turn over. I figured that the wire that I broke on the negative terminal was the cause.
I walk back to Autozone and buy a new nagative wire (I didbn't realize that I could just replace the terminal). I come back and realize that I can't get under the car (I'm at my girlfriends apartment).
It is not dark out. I go back to Autozone to buy a jack, some stands and a flashlight. I get back, jack the car up, put the stands under it, slide on the wet ground and realize that I would need to remove the oil filter to replace this entire negative wire. I can't do that.
I call my father and he informs me that I could just replace the terminal. Unfortunately, Autozone is now closed. So...
I take a cab to another Autozone and buy a universal terminal. I get back and replace it and....THE CAR STILL DOESN'T START!! After 4 hours of fiddling and spending about $200! The lights are very dim and I get a click when I turn the key. My hypothesis in that Autozone sold me a bad battery. However, I have to wait until tomorrow to return it and try a new one.
I hope I bought the correct terminal. I don't know what a marine terminal is that everyone on here is talking about. I saw one at Autozone but it had a threaded screw hole where the wire should go in and I didn't see how I would connect that to a stripped wire. Since I wasn't sure if that was the corrrect type, I bought the kind that uses a screw and a washer. I crimped a ring connecter on to the bare wire and connected that to the new terminal. It seems to me that the connection should be good enough to start the car. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
What is the recommended CCA and cranking amps for a battery on our cars?
What else could this be?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Carl
HOW NOT TO DO THINGS:
I leave my lights on accidently after I parked my car. I couldn't have been gone 5 minutes, but when I came back the car wouldn't start. A friendly neighbor gave me a jump but it didn't do any good. This was an ooold battery and it was cooked.
I walk around the corner to Autozone and buy their Duralast battery for $65. I walk home with it and as I am disconnecting the old negative terminal the bolt gets stuck and it strips. I work on it for 30 minutes and finally get it off by hammering it side to side while prying it upward with a screwdriver. Some of the copper wire was exposed, but I paid it no mind and tried to get the bolt off. Apparently I must have broken some of the copper wires from twisting it. The old Batterry also had no strap so it was a bitch to remove.
Now when I hooked up the new battery the car wouldn't start. The lights would come on then off and it wouldn't turn over. I figured that the wire that I broke on the negative terminal was the cause.
I walk back to Autozone and buy a new nagative wire (I didbn't realize that I could just replace the terminal). I come back and realize that I can't get under the car (I'm at my girlfriends apartment).
It is not dark out. I go back to Autozone to buy a jack, some stands and a flashlight. I get back, jack the car up, put the stands under it, slide on the wet ground and realize that I would need to remove the oil filter to replace this entire negative wire. I can't do that.
I call my father and he informs me that I could just replace the terminal. Unfortunately, Autozone is now closed. So...
I take a cab to another Autozone and buy a universal terminal. I get back and replace it and....THE CAR STILL DOESN'T START!! After 4 hours of fiddling and spending about $200! The lights are very dim and I get a click when I turn the key. My hypothesis in that Autozone sold me a bad battery. However, I have to wait until tomorrow to return it and try a new one.
I hope I bought the correct terminal. I don't know what a marine terminal is that everyone on here is talking about. I saw one at Autozone but it had a threaded screw hole where the wire should go in and I didn't see how I would connect that to a stripped wire. Since I wasn't sure if that was the corrrect type, I bought the kind that uses a screw and a washer. I crimped a ring connecter on to the bare wire and connected that to the new terminal. It seems to me that the connection should be good enough to start the car. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
What is the recommended CCA and cranking amps for a battery on our cars?
What else could this be?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Carl
