Help!!!!!

[Jim B]

Originally Posted by deuces wild

What's really confusing is when you put the charger on the turbo start batteries they look to charge normal but when you try to start the car their dead.

Voltage and amperage are two different types of values. think of it as voltage is the pressure of water in a pipe (PSI) and amperage is a measure of the pipe's flow capability. (volume) The static unloaded battery voltage may test fine (don't forget that a fully charged 12 volt battery for example should read 13 and change volts) but a bad battery will have no reserve current power and fail a load test. A quick and dirty test is to check the battery voltage before and during cranking. If the cranking voltage drops more than static battery voltage by more than 3 or 4 volts or after a 3 - 5 second crank has low or insufficient amperage reserve. Now a bad starter, bad cable connection or bad battery can cause the same result but the earlier posted tests will positively isolate the problem. BTW, be sure to check your battery charger for adequate output and proper cutoff level before you start a series of other tests! Frankly your scenario as posted sure points towards a bad charger or 2 bad batteries but testing will eliminate any guesswork. What is the voltage reading on a static battery?
I am not advocating a NASA type approach out of the gate but I have seen competitive race cars be dogged for a half a season chasing an electrical gremlin (intermittent are the worst!!) that should have been found much earlier by using standard test procedures. Just start with the simple stuff first then move on to the complicated areas until you find your problem.

[Ed Carpenter]

Well it was both my batteries. The new one (6 months old) is bad because I found the the negative post turns inside the battery when you tighten the cable. The old one has sat in my trailer for awhile im guessing a year. My stepdad told me to put it on trickle charge overnight for 8 to 10 hours. He said it probably had sulfer buildup on the plates??? Anyway I did that and its a miracle it starts the car right up. I left it in the car for 7 hours as of now and it still starts right up. I'm ordering a new one tommorow anyway. I think im going to start running two batteries. I have only been running one. Thanks for all the advice. I wish I would have stuck to my plan and took this year off. Nothing has gone right all year.

[Michael Compton]

Ed-

What brand of batteries do you have? I had a turbostart that did the same as yours. Bickel sent me a brand new one because of the posts turn when tightening the bolt. Might want to contact who you got it from. I can tell you how to check which version you have if it is a turbostart. Call me at 417-437-1669 if you want.