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battery won't hold charge

C

CV95XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Hinckley, IL
And now I cant even jump it and get it to start. The other day it seemed like the battery was dead, and I jumped it for maybe a minute and it fired right up and held charge fine. now, (two days later) I just cleaned up the terminals, cause I thought it wasn't getting a good connection, and now it won't even start. Ive been charging the battery for a while, and the gauge is reading normal amps, but it still won't start. Also all my fuses are fine.

Why the hell isn't it holding a charge, this is a practically brand new yellow top. If Could the alternator be the culprit? I need help fast, I have to get home sometime tonight. . . . thanks.
 
I have not expericed this myself but other have been having problems with optima batterys as well (I think that is what you are running, assuming optima "yellow top")

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=905513&highlight=optima

It could be just a bad dead battery.

You say the amps are reading normal so its not the alt.

I would take it to advance auto and have them do a load test on the battery. It's Free!
 
Possible causes are a flat (meaning bad) battery, or a bad alternator.

When you can get it running by jumping it, will it run on it's own power, or try to stall out? If it stays running on its own, more than likely a battery issue. If it begins or trys to stall, that suggests a bad alternator.

For now, my money is on a battery, possibly a bad cell or two inside. If you can get it running, take it to autozone or napa or some place and have them test both the battery and the alternator.

How old is the battery?

I've seen this happen before. My old man's battery in his Honda took a crap on us at the beach a few years back. We could jump it, and it would run fine. The minute you killed the engine and tried to restart it, you got nothing. Same thing happened to another Honda (ironically same year and model) of a guy I used to work with.

I seem to recall some others having problems with the yellow tops....
 
well, Ive been charging it for a while now and still can't get it running. The amps are reading normal, but it just won't fire up. holding a charge might not be the problem im thinking. maybe just a bad starter? once my brother gets here Ill try pounding on it.

What else could cause this thing not to start? I turn the key and get nothing, even with the battery fully charged. Ive pretty much gone over everything in the haynes manual troubleshooting section. Im out of ideas. unless the motor is seized, which i doubt.
 
CV95XJ said:
well, Ive been charging it for a while now and still can't get it running. The amps are reading normal, but it just won't fire up. holding a charge might not be the problem im thinking. maybe just a bad starter? once my brother gets here Ill try pounding on it.

What else could cause this thing not to start? I turn the key and get nothing, even with the battery fully charged. Ive pretty much gone over everything in the haynes manual troubleshooting section. Im out of ideas. unless the motor is seized, which i doubt.
Click to expand...

NSS neutral saftey switch
 
expand on the NSS, I looked it up in the haynes manual, and all it gave me was that the NSS, made it so you couldn't start it when the vehicle is in drive or reverse. Im starting to think the starter is bad, but even when I pound on the starter, it still doesn't try to start up. Im getting pretty pissed off right now, and am about to sell this thing.
 
Try shaking the shifter some while trying to crank it. If it fires up, that indicates an NSS issue.

You could also try starting it in Neutral first to see if it starts.
 
I didn't try shaking the shifter, but I did try it in neutral and it showed no sign of life at all. pretty sure Im gonna buy a new starter tomorrow and see what that does. After looking through all the options in the haynes manual, Ive pretty much narrowed it down to the starter being bad, or the motor being seized, so I could be in a world of trouble.

You guys have been very helpful, thanks.
 
There really isn't much to the wiring. The key in the start position, puts power to the relay (coil) in the PDC (power distribution center under the hood) the ground for the relay (coil) is through the neutral safety switch. The coil magnetizes and closes a set of contacts, which puts power (from fuse num 10) to the starter solenoid. The solenoid closes another set of contacts (inside the solenoid) which passes power from the major (thick red) starter cable from the battery.
Hold your finger on top of the starter relay and have someone turn the key to start, you should feel a click, though the click isn't pronounced, it is very slight and sometimes hard to feel.
The brown wire to the starter should have juice, when the key is in the start position. If it does, your problem is likely in the major red cable to the starter, or the ground cable from the battery to the block.
If it doesn't, fuse num 10 is burnt through, the ignition switch isn't passing current to the relay, the relay is bad, the relay ground is bad (NSS). Or there is an open wire someplace.
 
wow, Im going to copy and paste your response, and bring it down to the shop with me. thanks for writing all that down for me! I was thinking it could be a problem with the NSS, or in the ignition, Ill check it all out tomorrow. thanks man.
 
If you have an NSS Problem

A) Your reverse lights wont work
B) You can shift in neutral

Do any lights come on in the cab at all?

Sounds like your NSS is fine, or maybe it's bad but something else is wrong too, which is hiding the NSS's faults :)
 
the reverse lights work, and so do the lights in the cab. So does that mean it might not be an NSS problem. Im checking all the wires and stuff right now. Any more ideas?

Also, I was checking the ignition in the truck, I can't figure out how to get the bottom plastic piece off, because it won't fit over where the key goes in.

The ground to the block seems fine too.

Any other ideas?
 
alright, new progress.

first, question, is the NSS, the sensor that is attached to the drivers side top of the transmission, where the motor and the trans connect. if it is, then I found what looks like a ground wire just hanging their. I traced it back up to the top, and the other end was grounded to the top of the firewall. Anyone know where this goes. if you want I could get pics for you.
 
CV95XJ said:
alright, new progress.

first, question, is the NSS, the sensor that is attached to the drivers side top of the transmission, where the motor and the trans connect.
Click to expand...

That sounds like the CPS (Crankshaft Position Sensor).

if it is, then I found what looks like a ground wire just hanging their. I traced it back up to the top, and the other end was grounded to the top of the firewall. Anyone know where this goes.
Click to expand...

Unless I'm misunderstanding you, this doesn't sound like the CPS.

if you want I could get pics for you.
Click to expand...

Please do. I'm rather puzzled as to what it is you're looking at.
 
your right, its the cps, and their is a short maybe a foot long wire, looks like it may be a ground between the body and the motor, not sure though. The one end is connected to the top of the firewall, and the other was hanging down by the cps.
 
yep that was it, I guess that wire goes from the body, to the motor, and connects them, so I held the loose end to the block and it started right up.

I am so psyched right now.
 
CV95XJ said:
yep that was it, I guess that wire goes from the body, to the motor, and connects them, so I held the loose end to the block and it started right up.

I am so psyched right now.
Click to expand...

:confused1 I am glad that you found out that is was your CPS for a minute there I thought you were sending all of us on a wild goose chase. :roll:

Its ok when I had the problem with my NSS everyone was telling me it was my starter and my cables with the fuseable link. (this was before I joined :NAXJA:)

Blaine B. said:
If you have an NSS Problem

A) Your reverse lights wont work
B) You can shift in neutral

Do any lights come on in the cab at all?
Click to expand...

Funny thing is I had none of those symptoms when that dang thing went out. Just corroated.
 
CV95XJ said:
the reverse lights work, and so do the lights in the cab. So does that mean it might not be an NSS problem. Im checking all the wires and stuff right now. Any more ideas?
Click to expand...

Lights in the cab won't have anything to do with the NSS.

There are 2 "blades" in the NSS. One's for the reverse lights, and the other is starting.

So, although you're probably alright, perhaps the blade for reverse lights is NOT sticking and the one for starting is. You'd have to open it up to see what's inside.

Or look at this write-up on Jeepin.com. Tells you all about the NSS with pics.

http://jeepin.com/features/nss/index.asp

BY THE WAY I mean't you can START in neutral, not shift.....hehe, typo!
 
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