Quote:
Originally Posted by Trackrash
If the battery starts the car, is it dead?
Use your volt meter to check every connection in the charging circuit.
Put one lead on one side of the connection and the other lead on the other side of the connection with the car running. If you see a voltage reading, there is resistance in that connection. A digital volt meter is best.
Don't try to just measure resistance, it will not be the same as when there is current in the circuit.
Probably in the battery cable connections.
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If the original poster is accurate, and he put the voltmeter on the battery posts and it read 10v, then the battery is bad. There is nothing else that can cause that, assuming you have the voltmeter on the + and - posts of the battery...
Disconnect the battery from all its connections. Measure voltage. Should be >12.8 at rest...
Or, just take it to Sears or Autozone and get it checked under load...
At 10v, it will flip the car over, and start it. Barely.
A short can cause low voltage. But if you have a healthy battery, pushing 850 CCA through a short with enough fury to drop it to 10volts... you probably have sparks and smoke flying
.
Now, if the PO is testing the battery voltage differently, that's different...