Gas leak and power loss at the same time - ??

Christien · Christien's Garage

I was doing some fuel work yesterday, replaced the filter, moved it back to the engine bay, buttoned everything up and put a few litres of gas in to get to the gas station. On my way there today, I stalled, figured I was out of gas, no big deal, walked over, bought a jerry can and put a few more litres in there. I went to start it up to finish the drive, no power. Nothing - no alternator light, no juice at all. So I checked all the connections, everything seemed fine, got back in, turned the key and I had power. Shut it off to close the door, put on seatbelt, etc., turned the key, then nothing again. Ended up pushing it home, which sucked.

The gas leak was simple - a really dumb mistake, I forgot one of the o-rings on the return line banjo fitting.

But the power loss has me stumped.

I didn't do touch anything electrical yesterday. The only thing I moved with a wire attached was the fuel level sender. The battery measured very low on the multimeter, but I should still get the alternator light and the radio when I turn the key. When pushing it on my way home, I dumped the clutch with more than enough speed to bump start it, and nothing happened at all, so there's absolutely no spark at the back, so I'm 99% sure it's a loose connection.

Any ideas?

Rot 911 · 05-01-2009, 07:01 AM

How low is the voltage on your battery? You get much below 10 volts and ever the lights and radio won't come on.

Christien · Christien's Garage

But even if there was NO battery in it, it should have bump started, no?

Rot 911 · 05-01-2009, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christien

But even if there was NO battery in it, it should have bump started, no?

Incorrect. You have an alternator which requires electricity to generate electricity. Even a generator needs an electrical input to complete the system. Now a magneto, like on some old motorcycles or airplanes generates its own electricity when spun.

Christien · Christien's Garage

Ok, I didn't know that - thanks. The battery was brand new last summer, and has been running fine this year for a few weeks now, including long highway trips and short trips to the grocery store. I realize that batteries can do weird things, but does it make sense that it completely drained to nothing between yesterday and today? If it makes any difference, after I got everything together yesterday, I fired it up and ran it for about 30 seconds, including a few quick revs to 4000, just to make sure fuel was flowing and not leaking, then fired it up again today to go to the gas station.

Christien · Christien's Garage

Oh, and just for an ironic twist, my CAA (Canadian AAA) membership arrived in the mail today

Rot 911 · 05-01-2009, 07:47 AM

Christien, back to the original question. What is the voltage at the battery?

Christien · Christien's Garage

I don't remember precisely, but really low, like 3V, maybe less. I'll go check again at lunch.

edit: and to clarify, it's been converted to a single 12V battery.

Rot 911 · 05-01-2009, 08:00 AM

At 3 volts you will have nothing. No lights, no sound, nothing. Charge back up to 12.5 volts and I suspect all will be well.

ossiblue · 05-01-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt V

At 3 volts you will have nothing. No lights, no sound, nothing. Charge back up to 12.5 volts and I suspect all will be well.

+1

It's very possible that your battery was critically low yesterday yet had enough power to start. Given 24 hours, and an unknown power drain, you're dead. If Kurt's right, your next step is to monitor the power drain (amps) with all systems off, just to see if you developed an unknown problem.

Christien · Christien's Garage

Well, problem solved. It was indeed a loose connection. I went to pull the battery out to get a reading and hook up the charger, and I guess I left the key in the run position, because the fuel pump suddenly started running. Didn't have time to specifically locate what was loose, but it's obviously around the battery somewhere, so I must have pulled something when I removed the gas tank yesterday.

longhornchris04 · longhornchris04's Garage

Glad to hear you fixed it. I had a similiar issue, left for a week, came back and... nothing. Sadly, not a new occurance, PO had an alarm installed and one of the wire had grounded out. Nothing a little electrical tape couldn't fix.

This time, no dice. Luckily, I was able to borrow a charger. When I hooked the battery back up I noticed the glove box light was on... boy did I feel stupid. Battery only had 1V on it... I was so worried I had a ground fault but nope, it was a stupid light bulb!!!