Hey guys, (maybe) a stupid question, but my Durango just all of a sudden stopped starting up without warning, it will start with a jump, but when i turn the key this morning it just went "click" and the dome lights and everything just went out! "so" my 1st thought was it had to be a bad battery, took the battery out to advanced and had it tested, came back "good battery" the sales guy is saying something is "frying" my battery (which makes NO semse) since he says the battery is good, So here is my question ----If the battery is GOOD then wouldn't i have Dome Lights Head lights, radio, etc. etc> ? i just don't want to have to pull out alternator, starter etc if this is something more simple- "Any" Ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated- thank you Gentlemen (by the way it is a 2003 Durango 4.7) will start "Immediatly" with a jump, but when sits in driveway over night, open door dome lights are on and when turn the key its 1 click and "nothing" Battery tested 'Good' though so little confused as to why i would have no headlights or dome lights if i indeed have a Good battery, no coorosion on cables either (and the Battery is less than a year old)

 

Check your glove box light. My switch was out of adjustment and the light was staying on in the glove box when it was closed.

 

First, Most people at the chain auto stores are idiots. I have had several batteries over the years test "good" and in fact they where bad. The morons usually don't know that you cant load test a DEAD battery.....

Second, i would make sure your terminals are clean (probably already have). Get yourself a digital multi-meter and have someone jump you. once its started then you can test to see what voltage your getting into the battery from the alternator. Should be getting between 13-15V. Anything below 12.8v means the alternator is not charging correctly. If that's okay then leave the meter hooked up and shut the truck off. Take notice to how fast the voltage drops. If it has a fast drop then you have dead cells in the battery and it will need replaced.

Also keep in mind that one the battery is completely dead, it takes more than a few mins of running to charge it enough to return it back to normal. The correct way to do it is to hook it up to a battery charge for a few hours.

HTH

 

Thanks- i agree tose guys are "Idiots' they just do not want to Honor the Warranty is what i'm thinking, but thanks for your suggestions

 

I have a family member that is a store manager for one of the chains... He is told many times from the higher ups to "just fill the open spots" when hiring... Bottom line, if you apply your probably getting hired.

 

I'm wondering if the Battery is in fact "NO Good" and they just do not want to honor the warranty now that you've said they can not actually test a "dead" battery... will see, i'll check the previous suggestions thanks old school

 

we have a battery charger here at work for our company trucks so i'm charging the battery for a few hours before i get out, the 'water/battery acid' was 'Extremely' Low so hopefully a charge will do it will let you know

 

Well, if the water was low, the few jumping/charging cycles could have killed a cell or to. How far into the warranty are you? maybe you can have better luck at another store... At this point i would be leaning towards a battery replacement.

 

If a significant amount of your cells dried out from low acid the battery is done. I would get the battery tested by someone that doesn't have to potentially honor the warranty. A battery can read with proper voltage when not under load but it needs to be load tested to see if it can sustain the amps needed to do its job.

 

Only 1 year into it, (and i was thinking the same thing) take it to a pep boys or somewhere where i did not buy the battery."however" i tried a trick a friend taught me and jumped the battery and let the truck run for 15-20 minutes, disconnected jumper cables and restarted the truck 3-4 times without cables for the next 3 hours, then i disconnected the positive cable overnight, hooked it up this morning and it started right up! soooo ' something' is draining the battery while its sitting overnight? oddly enough i was thinking the day this started i was playing with my Cruise control(hadn't used it in years) to see if it still worked, is it co-incidence? i have the truck sitting home right now with the positive disconnected and will hook it up again when i get home to see if in fact tit starts again without a jump, if so is it safe to assume that something is draining the battery while truck is off- i know for a fact there are No lights left on, glovebox, dome etc. so i'm wondering if it has "anything" to do with me turning on my crusie control(sounds insane i know) but very coincidental yes? any thoughts... or is it still sounding like a battery/or is the Alternator the issue. thanks for all your feedback