Strange Electrical issue w/really cold... (1 Viewer)

[Jcrawf]

Happy holidays everybody.

We're in a little cold snap here in Montreal (-20 without windchill right now)...
I went to start my 96 FZJ and had no power, no lights, no anything, dead as disco.
My battery is new and verified with a volt meter.
I disconnected the terminal clamps and reattached them. As soon as I made connection, I heard a couple clicks (relays I assume) and my lights came on. So I tightened everything down and climbed in. Problem solved, right?
Nope...everything was lit, radio was playing, voltage gauge showed good power, BUT, when I turned the key, everything went dark. I go back under the hood, play with the clamps again, get power. Turn the key, everything goes dark again.
This happened before in another cold snap so I replaced the battery. I probably didn't need to.
Anybody have any experience or insight into this mystery?

 

[mct75]

The terminals are too loose or have surface corrosion. This has happened to me several times.

 

[BILT4ME]

Define "verified" with a Volt meter.

12.5 Volt and lower is inadequate.

Clean terminals
Replace fusible links

 

[LINUS]

^^^^ as mentioned, volts aren't amps.

This time of year every last connection gets a little more critical, iced connections aren't just wet-n-sorta greased enough.

They flat love to leave you kicking rocks, or waiting for a rollback truck.
Either way, you're freezing your twins off.

 

[Malleus]

Try a little dielectric (or Vaseline) on the terminal posts, then install the connectors.

 

[blkprj80]

Turn the key on, listen for the clicks, then tug on the wires, especially the three smaller ones coming from the positive terminal. If you hear things start clicking, make note of which wire caused it, and replace it with a correct fusible link. If you find one bad, buy the set, it's cheap insurance.
Cold causes plastic insulation to do bad things.

 

[Jcrawf]

It’s definitely not my battery. I just replaced it in the fall.
Fusible links or bad wires sound very plausible. I’m going to start with the easiest thing and work back. I’ll replace the terminals tomorrow and see what that does. It’s going to be around -30 for the rest of the week so I’m hoping for something easy and quick. I’ll report back with any news. Until then, I’m driving my wife’s car.

 

[Dork]

I feel your pain, I'm in Alberta. This whole country's being hit hard.

Before buying new terminals, pull your existing ones off and just clean the inside with a round file then try it again. Usually works as a decent stop gap for a while. If there's a good oxidizing layer on there, just interrupts the current.

 

[Dave 2000]

Fusible links corroded?

Regards

Dave

 

[maxamillion2345]

What are the volts when you try to crank engine over? Just because its a newer battery doesn't mean it can't be bad and even if you read 12.4+ volts at batt doesn't mean it doesn't fall on its face when you put a load on it. Start there. If youre volts don't drop away to nothing then see what kind of voltage drops you get from post to terminal and then post to cable end. Itll only take a minute to verify so might as well start with basics, just to be sure.

 

[blkprj80]

Another good way to check the voltage is to crank it with the headlights on. That will also help diagnose a bad connection, depending on if it goes out or not.
Note some newer vehicles turn off the headlights while cranking.

 

[Jcrawf]

Still -25 here today. A full week of deep freeze. Doing any sort of work on my truck has been an excruciating experience. Still though....I managed to solve my issue. I can''t say exactly what the problem was since I did a few things at the same time. I replaced both terminals (including ground wire ), I cleaned the posts, and brought my battery inside and connected it to my Noco Genius charger overnight.
I haven't started it in 2 days of freezing Canadian hell until this morning. It fired up better than before, really strong with no hesitation. I have to guess the old terminals and dirty posts were the culprit. Jeez... I little simple maintenance and I could have avoided having to drived my wife's Ford Edge for the week.
Thanks for all the input and suggestions. I'm more of lurker on this forum but I'm always impressed how everybody comes together to help when a fellow mudder is down. Awesome community!!
Enjoy your New Year.
Jeremy

 

[Dave 2000]

Always good to get feedback, glad it's sorted.

Regards

Dave

 

[LS1FJ40]

Extreme cold weather with zap a battery in short time. I run two group 27f lead acid batteries in my 93. Both are less than a year old. Ran one this Morning at 3am for a short drive to pick up my daughter. Went to start it again at 11am and it was very sluggish to start.

Conversely, my 92 which is running a single group 27f AGM fires right up. No issue.

I’m switching to group 31 agm batteries in my 93.

 

[Dave 2000]

Extreme cold weather with zap a battery in short time. I run two group 27f lead acid batteries in my 93. Both are less than a year old. Ran one this Morning at 3am for a short drive to pick up my daughter. Went to start it again at 11am and it was very sluggish to start.

Conversely, my 92 which is running a single group 27f AGM fires right up. No issue.

I’m switching to group 31 agm batteries in my 93.

I have seen the above scenario before, I often find a well maintained single battery will outlast two batteries in parallel. Whilst it's true the 'load' is halved, the parasitic loss is not. So you often find parallel batteries not reaching a fully charged (read relatively) state.

Regards

Dave