Help! Buddies '89 Cab has left him stranded

kilodawg · kilodawg's Garage

Just got a call from a buddy on his cell. He was heading down to visit his folks in Miami for the holiday (about a 3 hour trip) and got about 100 miles away when this sequence of events happened.

1. Car was running great.
2. He pulled over to put the top down. This requires shutting off the car and taking the key to position "0" and then going to position "1" to run the top. This was completed successfully.
3. He re-started the car, got back on the road and the car ran normally for about 5 miles.
4. Then suddenly, the car momentarily lost power. He described to me the tach jumping down to 1000 RPM's it then quickly returned to normal but then gradually the motor lost power until the car died. No warning lights were illuminated.
5. He next decided to put the top back up since it would be a while waiting on the tow truck but now there was not enough charge on the battery for the top to go up.
6. At this point an older couple in a Cayenne pull over to see if they can help. A nice gesture. They decide to look at the battery and notice two things.
7. The positive terminal is just resting on top of the battery post and a cap that covers a few battery filler ports is off and there is a small amount of fluid in the area.
8. They reconnect the post but no joy and somewhere around this time they can see the battery fluid bubbling. I assume after they tried to raise the top again.

Any clues? Can it be as simple as a bad battery or is the battery just part of a sequence of events?

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

Bad battery and MAYBE a fried alternator and/or regulator.

Replace the battery, test the charge....

12.5 volts at rest
13.0+ at idle
13.5-14.0 MAX at 2500 rpms.

Less than that, alt is bad....more than 14.5v regulator is most liekly the culprit and was the reason the battery pooped....

Jeff · 11-24-2005, 08:37 AM

First off if he does not have the covers for the filler ports DO NOT use that battery. Get a new one.

If the positive terminal to the battery was not connected then it will not charge the battery and will not let the alternator do its job (to run electrical system and charge the battery).

Thomas Owen · 11-24-2005, 08:38 AM

Does the engine turn over but not start? Or act like a dead battery?
'No warning lights' sounds like no battery or alternator connection...
The bubbling does not sound good - like an overcharge situation. If the positive lead came off while driving this could cause an alternator problem, but the car should start with a new battery . If it turns over without starting check the DME/fuel pump relay.
Good luck -