Bad battery = no idle?

[camarokiddave]

Anyone notice that if you have a bad battery and jump it, you have to hold the gas pedal down to get an idle or else she won't run? I was cleaning up the corrosion on the pos. term. and the hoodlight drained the old batt. so much that it wouldn't crank just click -click- click. So I jumped it but it wouldn't idle and wouldn't run til I switched batteries. BTW the alt. is fine. Does the computer send a signal for no fuel to the injectors for some reason?

[johnnyc]

If the battery has a bad cell, the computer won't be able to remember the idle. That's why you have to keep your foot on the gas for a while - the computer is relearning the idle

[riverfever]

I dealt with that crap last winter. We got a real nasty cold spell and the first morning it wouldn't start unless I floored it and then it died as soon as I let off the throttle. I jumped it from my 01 and it did the same so I kinda ignored the fact that it might be battery. I tested all the major sensors. Finally I tried a new battery and it ran great. I'm not sure but I wondered if the computer isn't getting a full 12 volts, is it anything like how we feel when we don't get enough sleep or are hungover? Mine was running way rich.

[CJ~Abuzer]

deleted reply

[riverfever]

The strange thing about mine was that when I checked the volts, it tested fine. The cold cranking amps were down in the 200 range though. Alternator was fine.

[johnnyc]

Yeah, when it happened to me, the battery gave all appearances of being in good condition. It would turn the engine over just fine. But it did have a bad cell and the CCAs were down. A new battery fixed it.

BTW, it was an Optima Yellow Top. And I'm pretty sure the bad cell was caused by excessive winching and trail welding.

[riverfever]

Is a bad cell pretty much the way you're gonna see a decrease in CCA's?

[camarokiddave]

Yeah, I think mine was running rich also---it smelled like a flooded carb.

[scoobyxj]

Mine does the same thing. If the battery gets run down real low to the point I need to jump it it does it. For some odd reason it never seems to do it if I've had the battery disconected though. It must just be the low voltage messing with the computer.

[scoobyxj]

LOL I did this again tonight. However I had a few bit different than normal symtoms. The first time I tried to start it not knowing the battery was dead it turned over, but didn't start. So thinking I had flooded it (my 2000 floods extreamly easy just cranking is over a revolution with out it starting will do it) I held the pedal to the floor, and tried again. It turned over, and then just chattered the starter contactor. So I put the charger on it, and went inside to get some supper. After charging for a bit over an hour I tried it again thinking for shure it would be flooded from the previous atempts I held the pedal to the floor, and vroom. After holding down the pedel a bit to keep it running while it relearned the ldle RPM I took my foot off the gas, all was well. Now I turned on the heat to a setting that made the A/C compressor cycle, and it died. So I restarted it, and held the pedel down a bit again, and it wouldn't idle it just kept dying every time I tried taking my foot off the gas. Thought great F'ed-up the TPS. Well just for shits and giggles I decide to take a trip down the road, and back (I had a feeling maybe the pedel to the floor had the ECM thinking funny). Shure enough that's all it needed.

[jeepurnaz]

Chrysler calls it "start and stall" a bad battery or cell will cause it.
The computer needs full amps and voltage to idle correct.

[dynorockcg]

I left my ˆdod cra`ed on ` 00 whda dning` lhft dd the (`od ligp drained the battery. Upon jumping, it wouldn't crank. The fuel railzas get$`ng fue<%fine. @@ h`d t~$hold t` g`s drn for a bit then it finally idled fine...prob until the computer re-taught itsdf nr ta altergtor ga¦d the bxtery eN`ugh ju`e. I Öesh I saw this post on Sunday when I was freaking out...

[OjXj]

Its reasssuring to know that its 'normal' - I just went through this. Left the dome light on a couple of times and completely discharged the battery. Got the Battery Tender on there and thought that would be all it needed but apparently the battery is beyond help now and it was hard to get it to idle without cutting out until it had re-learned. Went to get a Yellow Top today and now it starts much stronger and runs great. I too, wish I had read this last night - would have saved me some worry.

[scoobyxj]

Thats why I added the long wind on #10. Thought it might help some one else if it happened to them that way.