Hi guys,
Thank God this is not finals week for me at school (next week is so I have to fix this by then). I've gone through votech and worked at a few shops for this, and I should know what I'm talking about here, but it's been a while since I've been into any of it and my mind isn't fresh in electrical right now.
The mustang (95 5.0) wouldn't start last night, so we jumped it and took it on a 20 minute or so drive figuring that would keep the battery fresh enough to start in another 9 hours when I woke up. It wouldn't start this morning. Just a 'click' and that's all. Put the DVOM on the terminals, registering 12.40v which is damn good considering how long I had the doors open, hood up (light), and how many times I tried to crank it. Batt was shipped in Nov of 06, and I think it's an interstate. When I hold on the starter, the batt gauge in the cluster drops only to the bottom half of the N in NORMAL. When not cranking, it's hanging out around O, which is normal for that car. I have heard this car crank somewhat slow before, so I'm not sure what's going on here.
I even used the acc belt to manually turn the motor to get it where it won't have to push compression for the first stroke in hopes of making the starter work. Didn't help one bit...
So here's my question. Do mustangs typically have problems with the wires going to the starter corroding? The reason I ask is that this battery is the least-maintenance free battery I've ever had. EVERY time I pop the hood, which is typically at MINIMAL once a week, there's new corrosion build up on the terminals. Natrually, I clean it with whatever I have (Coke, Wire brush & baking soda water, etc...), and go on my merry way. I've even coated the terminals in WD40.
Can the battery maintain a sufficient voltage and simply lack the amperage to push the starter over? The plates on the inside of the batt show very early stages of sulfation and each cell took about 1/4 cup of distilled water to top it up.
Thank God this is not finals week for me at school (next week is so I have to fix this by then). I've gone through votech and worked at a few shops for this, and I should know what I'm talking about here, but it's been a while since I've been into any of it and my mind isn't fresh in electrical right now.
The mustang (95 5.0) wouldn't start last night, so we jumped it and took it on a 20 minute or so drive figuring that would keep the battery fresh enough to start in another 9 hours when I woke up. It wouldn't start this morning. Just a 'click' and that's all. Put the DVOM on the terminals, registering 12.40v which is damn good considering how long I had the doors open, hood up (light), and how many times I tried to crank it. Batt was shipped in Nov of 06, and I think it's an interstate. When I hold on the starter, the batt gauge in the cluster drops only to the bottom half of the N in NORMAL. When not cranking, it's hanging out around O, which is normal for that car. I have heard this car crank somewhat slow before, so I'm not sure what's going on here.
I even used the acc belt to manually turn the motor to get it where it won't have to push compression for the first stroke in hopes of making the starter work. Didn't help one bit...
So here's my question. Do mustangs typically have problems with the wires going to the starter corroding? The reason I ask is that this battery is the least-maintenance free battery I've ever had. EVERY time I pop the hood, which is typically at MINIMAL once a week, there's new corrosion build up on the terminals. Natrually, I clean it with whatever I have (Coke, Wire brush & baking soda water, etc...), and go on my merry way. I've even coated the terminals in WD40.
Can the battery maintain a sufficient voltage and simply lack the amperage to push the starter over? The plates on the inside of the batt show very early stages of sulfation and each cell took about 1/4 cup of distilled water to top it up.