Help please w/electrical problem

[ColoradoVX]

Drove to the store... no problem. Come out of the store... totally dead. Thought maybe the starter which I replaced about 1 year ago but I couldn't jump it. Radio and lights would come on intermittently.

Tow it home blacked out... not even flashers working. But... the radio lit up off and on during the 3-mile tow home. Get it home, put it in park, remove the key AND THEN the flashers come on... just briefly. Then begin hearing a buzzing sound from inside the dash! This is with it totally shut down and the key removed.

Disconnected the battery but not really sure where to look first.

So again,
1. Won't start
2. Won't jump
3. Electrics intermittent
4. Short circuit sound even totally shut down.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

[DaGambit69]

On my Rodeo I had something similar, thought it was just a loose terminal but turns out I need to replace the corroded battery termimals. Though the short circuit sound baffles me

[ColoradoVX]

Thanks for the reply. My terminals at the battery are clean... replaced them not long ago. Terminals on the other end could be another problem as I didn't replace the entire cable at that time. But, obviously lights and flashers get juice even when shut down so electricity is flowing through somewhere, even bypassing the ignition switch. Finding it is going to be another matter.

[ahdoman]

Do you have an alarm or remote start? There are very few things that will affect different parts of the electrical system. Also, could possibly be something in your ignition switch.

[Mile High VX]

I had some strange electrical issues a while back...turned out my battery was on it's way to needing replacement. As it's output varied it created some very odd issues with the VX.

Bought a new Ultima Redtop and all of the issues went away...

[ColoradoVX]

Well, put a meter on the battery and it looks good. Attached a battery charger with start capability and even it couldn't get vehicle to turn over though it did give me more clicks out of the starter. And, it did provide enough juice to power the radio and dash.

Though I suppose I still cannot rule out the starter, with the other electrical problems, I'm guessing that the battery cable is corroded and is not carrying enough amps to push the starter.

These battery cables don't appear to be common. Has anyone ever found them?

[DaGambit69]

I need to replace my battery cable on my Rodeo to, meant to add that in my reply. When I was replacing the terminals, noticed that my cable had a lot of corrosion in it.

[ColoradoVX]

Hopefully, I may get by with replacing the terminals only and not have to restring an entire cable. Don't know if I can find replacement cables. The negative side connects in three places. The positive side goes into the relay box and down to the starter. Replacing the starter end could be a real pain and I don't know how much slack I've got.

[ahdoman]

Have you tried to just clean the grounds? If you put the charger on the battery and it acted up I would pull your battery and have it tested under a load. Most auto parts stores can do that. Mile High is right; it's hard to detect a battery going bad and when they go, they go.

[ColoradoVX]

Problem fixed. Apprarently it was a battery cable issue. Before attempting to restring the entire cable, I bought new terminal connectors, cut off the old ones, stripped the cable back far enough to find good wire, and attached the new connectors. Voila.

Fortunately, I had just enough slack in the cables to attach the new connectors and still reach the battery. But, if I have to do this again, I'll have to either replace them entirely or splice in an extension. Still cannot explain the short circuit sound I was getting inside the dash after shutting everything down. That's a mystery I guess I'll have to leave for another time.

Last, thanks everyone for the helpful comments. It's nice to have someone to brainstorm with.

[tom4bren]

That short circuit sound was probably just your security system complaining about the low voltage.

Glad you got it all worked out.