The battery on my 65 Dart GT is not staying charged. When I start the car, usually by jump starting it, the amp meter shows a slight charge. This makes me think it's charging. However, when I honk the horn, the gauge moves more toward "C" . I know the horn draws a lot of current, so why is this happening?

I would try another battery first , if you have one around ,that one may have bit the dust.


Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

Thanks for the quick reply, Dave. It is a newer battery, and was checked at O'reillys. They said it was good.

Now it's time to check the charging voltage.

Connect a voltmeter and see what you get. You should read 13.5 volts or better across the battery terminals with the engine running at highway rpms.

-Mac

O.K.,
I read 14.8V across battery.

14.8v is excessive and will make problems; your voltage regulation is not what it should be. You will likely want a replacement voltage regulator, and you'll want to run a ground loop (alternator housing to regulator base to battery negative terminal).

But despite the excessive charging voltage, your tests so far say the battery's OK and the charging system isn't failing. Your problem with the battery not staying charged, then, is probably because something is drawing current and running the battery down after you've switched off the ignition. Test this by disconnecting the battery negative terminal and leaving the car overnight or however long it usually takes for the battery to run down. Then go back to the car, reconnect the cable, and see if it starts. If so, you'll need to chase down the circuit that's drawing the current.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks SSD,

I took off the regultor,which was a new looking solid state one, and installed an old used, mechanical regulator. Now it reads 14.4V. I will get a new regulator, put on the noted grounding wires and check it again. It still shows an increased charge when I honk the horn.

Don't overlook the possibility of a current drain running the battery down while the car's off. You can test for that with a multimeter or a test light in series with the battery and the car off.

Yes,
I disconnected the ground cable, and measured from battery to cable and had 0.25V draw with everything turned off. VR1001 will be in tommorrow.

Just checking if you meant 0.25 Amps? As if I'm not mistaken you should measure current flow between the battery and cable. Maybe a typo on your part or possibly your meter is on the wrong setting?

cheers

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AP6

does your car have a light in the boot because it might be staying on and draining your battery i had that problem and it took a while to find that problem hope it helps..

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slants6 forever

I installed the $47.69 VR1001, ran ground wire per SSD, and now have 13.6V at the battery when running. digger12, I did have my meter set on Volts when I checked from the battery to ground cable. orgvgregal, no light in the boot. Jump started it and drove about 5 miles. Will try to start tommorrow. But why does it show an increase in charge when I honk the horn?

I think it should increase when you honk the horn because its drawing power i just went and checked mine and it did the same i think its normal

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slants6 forever

Try checking the Amps (current) with the car turned off and connected as above. Sorry about the bad drawing...

You should be able to check if something is draining the battery while its sitting.


Another question..After you jump start it and have it running for a while - 10-15 min. Is it able to restart easily? If so its possibly charging ok. Then you need to figure out why its draining when sitting.


Your Ammeter has got me puzzled though, and I dont have my car yet to be able to have a look, But I would have thought that if you jump started the car and your battery was low on charge, the ammeter would be nearly showing full scale as its starting to recharge the battery?

Maybe it doesnt work that way? But I'm sure some other people could say!

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AP6

Digger12 your right if the battery was flat the ampmeter would show full scale charging .

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slants6 forever