I have a 98 Suburban K2500 with a 454.
I bought it almost two years ago. It came with a two year old Kirkland Signature battery. Few months later it falied.
Battery #1 - I installed an Optima yellow top. That battery lasted about a year or so. The symptoms were the battery not holding a charge. I would put it on a charger all day, disconnected from the car then let it sit overnight, test the voltage and be in the 11s.
Battery #2 - Warrantied the Optima for another one. Went to start the car about a month later and nothing. Jumped it and drove it for the day. This happened for the next week. Sometimes it would hold the charge and sometimes it wouldn't. Took it to the dealership for an oil change and it failed their battery test. I took it to Advance Auto Parts where I bought the battery and had a tough time getting it warrantied again. The kid working there wasn't too knowledgeable about working on cars. We tested the battery and the truck 4 times. 2 times the battery failed and 2 times it passed their test. Everytime my starting and charging system passed the test. They had a nice tester with a clamp for testing the amperage.
Battery #3 - New battery is now a week old. Ran to the hardware store early yesterday morning, got there fine. Bought something and came out to the dreaded click. Put the voltage meter to the battery and got about 12.4 volts. Lights were bright. Had a guy in an older Jeep try to jump me and no luck. When we hooked up the cables we didn't get the telltale spark telling us we had a good connection. Then the wife came with her car and we got that spark. But again it wouldn't do anything but click. So I gave up. The truck was parked in a 30 minute parking stall so I decided to push it to a non timed parking stall so I can leave it there and go to work in my daily driver then worry about moving it after work. I turn the key to drop it in neutral but decide to try one last time. Of course it cranked strong and started right up. Drove it home and left it in the driveway. I tested it a few times and it started right up.
All my terminals are tight and almost no corrosion.
So the first three batteries when they went bad they wouldn't hold a charge and I got the slow crank then click. This fourth battery went straight to the click, still had plenty of voltage.
I am perplexed. At first I thought it was either the alternator overcharging but I had no burnt out bulbs and it tested fine with my multimeter and the last stores tester. Then I thought the starter might be straining the battery. But it passed the part store's test 4 times. And now the click. I would instantly think starter if it wasn't for the crappy performance of Optima batteries so far. Heck the guy in the Jeep who tried to jump me told me he had an Optima that he got rid of because it had an internal short. I don't want the install a $200 starter just to find out the batteries are just complete garbage.
I had this same problem with an 85 Crown Vic. I replaced starter, solenoid, battery cables, ground wires/cables, alternator, voltage regulator, battery and cleaned every contact that I could think of and eventually got rid of the car because I couldn't find the source. I really don't want to go through that again with this truck. I actually like it.
Any ideas?
I bought it almost two years ago. It came with a two year old Kirkland Signature battery. Few months later it falied.
Battery #1 - I installed an Optima yellow top. That battery lasted about a year or so. The symptoms were the battery not holding a charge. I would put it on a charger all day, disconnected from the car then let it sit overnight, test the voltage and be in the 11s.
Battery #2 - Warrantied the Optima for another one. Went to start the car about a month later and nothing. Jumped it and drove it for the day. This happened for the next week. Sometimes it would hold the charge and sometimes it wouldn't. Took it to the dealership for an oil change and it failed their battery test. I took it to Advance Auto Parts where I bought the battery and had a tough time getting it warrantied again. The kid working there wasn't too knowledgeable about working on cars. We tested the battery and the truck 4 times. 2 times the battery failed and 2 times it passed their test. Everytime my starting and charging system passed the test. They had a nice tester with a clamp for testing the amperage.
Battery #3 - New battery is now a week old. Ran to the hardware store early yesterday morning, got there fine. Bought something and came out to the dreaded click. Put the voltage meter to the battery and got about 12.4 volts. Lights were bright. Had a guy in an older Jeep try to jump me and no luck. When we hooked up the cables we didn't get the telltale spark telling us we had a good connection. Then the wife came with her car and we got that spark. But again it wouldn't do anything but click. So I gave up. The truck was parked in a 30 minute parking stall so I decided to push it to a non timed parking stall so I can leave it there and go to work in my daily driver then worry about moving it after work. I turn the key to drop it in neutral but decide to try one last time. Of course it cranked strong and started right up. Drove it home and left it in the driveway. I tested it a few times and it started right up.
All my terminals are tight and almost no corrosion.
So the first three batteries when they went bad they wouldn't hold a charge and I got the slow crank then click. This fourth battery went straight to the click, still had plenty of voltage.
I am perplexed. At first I thought it was either the alternator overcharging but I had no burnt out bulbs and it tested fine with my multimeter and the last stores tester. Then I thought the starter might be straining the battery. But it passed the part store's test 4 times. And now the click. I would instantly think starter if it wasn't for the crappy performance of Optima batteries so far. Heck the guy in the Jeep who tried to jump me told me he had an Optima that he got rid of because it had an internal short. I don't want the install a $200 starter just to find out the batteries are just complete garbage.
I had this same problem with an 85 Crown Vic. I replaced starter, solenoid, battery cables, ground wires/cables, alternator, voltage regulator, battery and cleaned every contact that I could think of and eventually got rid of the car because I couldn't find the source. I really don't want to go through that again with this truck. I actually like it.
Any ideas?
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