The battery in the van died *again*. Yes, I can stick it on the charger. But (and I’m just talking out of my ass here since I know nothing about cars) d’ya think it just might be possible that there’s something wrong that’s causing the battery to get sucked dry on a regular basis?
So I tell Dad the battery died again. He looks at me, thinks a minute, and says “Well, you don’t drive it enough to keep the battery charged.” ??!!?? I never knew that could be a problem. Especially since in the last 3 weeks I’ve put over 400 miles on it driving to Fayetteville to see Holly (lolly lolly get your adverbs here). I asked him to locate the GOOD battery charger for me since the one he gave me last time had exposed wire, or better yet – hook the thing up so I don’t have to. I look out the window this morning, and the hood of the van is *not* raised. I look on the back porch, and the battery charger is *not* there.
I don’t mind hooking the thing up, really I don’t. It would be nice if he did it, but I understand he’s busy (Dad works 10 hour days). But it drives me absolutely NUTS to go into his “tool shed” and pilfer through his stuff. And I have to remind myself constantly that he says the shed is structurally sound. Why? Because it looks like a good strong wind would knock it down.
ARGH!
UPDATE!!!! He must have hooked it up while I was blogging (bitching) about it LOL. I just went out to look for the equipment and noticed the van was hooked up to life support. Wonder how long it’ll take to get the van to a shop though…….
Testing the charging system is really easy and requires very few tools. Here’s how it’s done:
1) start by charging the battery then crank your van
2) with the van running, remove one battery cable from the battery. (be careful not to touch the cable end to anything metal. it’s best to remove the negetave ‘-’ cable) If the engine dies the charging system is bad. If the engine continues to run then the problem is either a bad battery or something is being left turned-on when the engine is turned off (though there are a few circuits whose relays might turn themselves on, most often it’s a dinky little light in the back somewhere.
Remember: automotive engines do not run on batteries, they run on alternators. You can completely remove the battery from a running car and it will continue to run. All the battery does is start the engine.
Hope that helps -Billy