Battery Dead - Alarm sounding everytime I charge - will not start NEED REAL TIME HELP (1 Viewer)

[mtnspeed]

For some reason I woke up to a dead battery this morning. So.. I clamped on my trusty charger and let it start it work. As soon as I hit charge, the alarm starts going off. All the lights, horn and everything is going nuts, and I can not get it to turn off. Likewise, as you might expect, that means my ignition is dead, b/c the alarm is going off.

I have tried inserting the key into the ignition to turn off the alarm with no success. The fob does not do the trick either. as soon as I put power to the battery, all that honking and wailing sucks the life out of it immediately. How do I get this started, as it is sitting behind my other car, and I can't get out of the driveway.

HELP, I NEED TO LEAVE TODAY.

 

[jamisobe]

did you try disconnecting the battery completely for 30 seconds or so?

 

[mtnspeed]

did you try disconnecting the battery completely for 30 seconds or so?

Nope, not yet... that was my next step. I have tried all the typical tricks, including the key in ignition and turn twice to on quickly. Didn't work. I will disconnect the battery soon, and try that out.

 

[-Spike-]

Try putting the key in the ignition and turn to 'ON' before connecting the battery.

-Spike

 

[mtnspeed]

Try putting the key in the ignition and turn to 'ON' before connecting the battery.

-Spike

Ok, I will try that. Tried the disconnecting, and it didn't do the trick. But I connected the charger with the battery disconnected from the truck and it appears that it will not even accept a charge. I am off to get a new battery. Are the Optima's really worth it?

 

[Bob_Garrett]

Try putting the key in the ignition and turn to 'ON' before connecting the battery.

-Spike

I would suggest doing that only if absolutely necessary. Some components (usually the most expensive and inaccessable ones) don't like sudden inrushes of current.

Sounds like the battery may have a shorted cell.

 

[jamisobe]

Ok, I will try that. Tried the disconnecting, and it didn't do the trick. But I connected the charger with the battery disconnected from the truck and it appears that it will not even accept a charge. I am off to get a new battery. Are the Optima's really worth it?

Optimas are good because they aren't too expensive and they can operate as deep cycle or cranking battery. I like the blue tops because they have the studs in addition to the top posts.

 

[roncruiser]

Is it an aftermarket alarm or the stock alarm?

 

[Grench]

Ok, I will try that. Tried the disconnecting, and it didn't do the trick. But I connected the charger with the battery disconnected from the truck and it appears that it will not even accept a charge. I am off to get a new battery. Are the Optima's really worth it?

I like my Optima D31A batteries in both of my trucks (3 batteries). Others have had less luck with them and swear by the Oddessy <sp?> brand. Another opinion is to buy the cheapest battery(s) you can find and count on replacing them every 2 years.

The Optima D31A is not cheap and can be harder to source than even the factory type 27F.

Watch out on this one. The cruiser has the poles in the opposite position of 95% of the vehicles out there. A type 27 will not work very well as the cables have to stretch another 5". Even the center post D31A requires 2.5" of stretch that may not be there on some trucks.

Double check that you have the + and the - cables right before you connect them. If you mistakenly get a -standard- battery, it will be VERY tempting to try to put it in backwards.

The good news is that the mounts in the 80 are pretty universal, and just about every battery can be -made- to fit if you're willing to run a die down the J hooks and stretch the cables out to musical standards.

YMMV.

 

[NorCalDoug]

if it's an oem alarm, put the key in the ignition and turn it on then off 2 times to disable the alarm manually.

I'm not sure why it's going off though...I've never had that happen any time I've recharged or changed the battery.

 

[slinger5150]

If its an aftermarket alarm, theres usually an override button somewhere. I used to mount them under the dash somewhere. You need to be pushing the button in when you hit the disarm button after you reconnect the battery. This tells the alarm that its you because you have the remote and you know where the override button is. Some alarms used switches also.

If its a factory alarm and you don't have a remote, reconnect the battery and put the key in the drivers door. Unlock the door and it will trigger a wire in the door to disarm the factory alarm. This is the same on almost all makes and models with factory alarms incase someone loses their remote.

The reason the alarm keeps going off is because when you keep disconnecting and reconnecting power it thinks you're trying to cut power to it to try and bypass it.

 

[roncruiser]

If it's an aftermarket alarm cut the power to the alarm. There should be 12V fused leads to the alarm somwhere under the dash providing juice to the alarm. Usually, next to the alarm somewhere.

Next would be to disconnect the ignition and starter wires from the alarm relays. Short the starter wires together and short the ignition wires together. It should start up now given you have a good battery.

 

[slinger5150]

That would work also. I was just trying not to disable the alarm. Eventually if he wishes to use the alarm he'll have to find the override switch.

 

[mtnspeed]

Thanks for all the help

Got it fixed.. I have the factory alarm. I am not sure what happened to create the problem. As I was fixing it, a neighbor walked by and said he was out walking his dog late at night, and said the alarm was going off, but sounded like the battery was about to die. I can't imagine I wouldn't here it , and can't figure out why it wouldn't eventually shut off. I guess it went off until the battery died.

So, everytime I tried to charge the battery, the alarm would start beeping and drain it before I could get a good charge. I removed the battery and tried to charge it, and found that it was toast. So, off to AutoZone for a new battery. Ended up with a DuraLast Gold for $70 bones. As soon as I installed it, the alarm started wailing, but this time the fob allowed me to turn it off immediately, and I have been fine ever since.

What sucked was I had parked it on an incline direcltly behind my other car in the garage, and I couldn't get either car out of the way. Good thing the wife has a company car. She picked up the battery for me and off I went.

Thanks for the help guys..

 

[reffug]

Take the DuraLast back and get an Optima from Costco.

With there return policy you can't go wrong.

I've got dual Optima's and love em. They have never let me down.

Course now the truck probably won't start in the morning.