Broke Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Back again with more trouble. This time, the damned rat trap won't respond to anything at all. Did an oil change on it, then put it away for the weekend. Come Monday or Tuesday I go out and I get nothing from the key or any controls. No lights, no flashers, no starter, no nothing. What are the first fuses and fusible links I should check and where are they? I am half positive it might be a fuse or fusible link since I've had to repeatedly jump it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 usually for me it was just corrosion between the battery terminals and the clamps. could also be corrosion in the cables, or just a failing battery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broke Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Battery is brand new and fully charged, even if it was failing or bad I'd still have the lights. Could be corrosion in the cables but I haven't checked. Where does the positive cable terminate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Battery is brand new and fully charged, even if it was failing or bad I'd still have the lights. Could be corrosion in the cables but I haven't checked. Where does the positive cable terminate? The positive goes to the starter and PDC as well as the alternator. Just pull the battery terminals off the wires and clean them up. Cut and strip the wires if you have the extra length. Baking soda or coca cola work well at removing corrosion and a wire brush helps immensely. Clean them up real well then reassemble. Also wire brush the inside of the battery post terminals and the battery posts themselves and clean up the ground on the fender directly off the battery. Sand/wire brush until you see bare metal and then reinstall. Worst case you will need to replace the battery cables and post terminals all together and I would recommend upgrading them if you do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Battery is brand new and fully charged, even if it was failing or bad I'd still have the lights. Could be corrosion in the cables but I haven't checked. Where does the positive cable terminate? A good way to check is to stick your head under the hood and look at the end that connects to the + battery terminal, then follow the cable to the other end and see what it connects to. :thumbsup: And while you're there, it would be a good idea to disconnect the battery cables, clean the terminals, then reconnect. BTW, do you have a voltmeter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broke Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 I do not at this time. Harbor Freight is always open though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 The positive goes to the starter and PDC as well as the alternator. No PDC on a Renix. I do not at this time. Harbor Freight is always open though. Grab one. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 The positive goes to the starter and PDC as well as the alternator.No PDC on a Renix. Good point, completely forgot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broke Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 In the meantime, are there any common component failures that can cause these symptoms? I won't be digging at it for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Even a cheap Harbor Freight Volt/Ohm meter will be your best friend here. Now, remove the cables from your battery, Clean them - even sand paper will work to get a better connection. Make sure they are tight when you put them back on. Maybe your new battery did not get the connections tightened! First thing to check with the volt meter is your battery charge. Do not "assume", we all have been there with "assume". A fully charged battery should read 12.6 volts. New batteries sometimes fail with bad welds between cells or other issues. So check the charge, very first thing. Second, do you have a set of jumper cables and another car? Try jumping the Comanche. Does that help the lights go on? You can do this even before you get a volt meter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broke Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Yeah I hooked up a jumpbox and I got power back. False alarm. That battery is nearly brand new so I'm going to go get it swapped out at advance and it should fix that and my starting problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Yeah I hooked up a jumpbox and I got power back. False alarm. That battery is nearly brand new so I'm going to go get it swapped out at advance and it should fix that and my starting problem. Hey, that is good to hear! Always nice when it is something simple! NOW, go get a volt meter at Harbor Freight...only about 7 or 8 dollars and very much worth having in the tool box. I have a cheap one from Harbor Freight and a $200 Fluke. The cheap one works just fine for car stuff and around the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broke Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Yeah I hooked up a jumpbox and I got power back. False alarm. That battery is nearly brand new so I'm going to go get it swapped out at advance and it should fix that and my starting problem. Hey, that is good to hear! Always nice when it is something simple! NOW, go get a volt meter at Harbor Freight...only about 7 or 8 dollars and very much worth having in the tool box. I have a cheap one from Harbor Freight and a $200 Fluke. The cheap one works just fine for car stuff and around the house. I actually grabbed the DMM two days ago and poked around the engine bay for a bit trying to make sure there was good continuity on the power cables, one of my coworkers was jumping a car to take into the shop so I just flagged him down, hooked it up, jumped in and watched the radio while turning the key to ON. The battery read 6.7v when I checked it. The reason I figured it was a fault with the electrical system was because years of tinkering with non-automotive electronics had me thinking that as long as the battery held any charge at all I should be able to get SOMETHING to turn on, guess that's not the case. Honestly, I'm just glad that it's something simple this time. The harnesses are in piss poor shape so I was positive something had finally snapped or corroded through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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