It's dead Jim!

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Voltage gauge's draw no amps at all, so if you see any voltage drop there is a bad connection

i.e. new battery is say 12.9volts, key off
Every place you test should be 12.9v
You see 12.6v it means there is a problem, unless you turned on the key

I will add to that, if you check with a digital multimeter across the battery terminals and you hold it there for a minute, it should remain pretty constant. If it slowly ticks down (12.80, 12.79, 12.78, etc) then you either have a parasitic draw or the battery has an internal short. Disconnect the battery terminals and re-test at that point. If the battery stays stable, there’s a parasitic draw. If it still ticks down, the battery is toast.

Couple other notes…

I’ve seen battery cables go bad inside the insulation. I chased an electrical problem for quite awhile on my Choptop once until I finally noticed that the main ground off the battery made a crunchy sound when flexed. I skinned some insulation off and found it was badly corroded inside.

No-Alox (found in places like Home Depot electrical section) is used to prevent corrosion on aluminum wires when making up connections. I believe it is electrically conductive but I would have to check. I know hooking up aluminum wire to a breaker panel you slobber it all over the exposed end of the wire before making the connection. Be careful with it though, it’s like using anti-seize, it will get everywhere.

 

[RobbieD]

I’ve seen battery cables go bad inside the insulation. I chased an electrical problem for quite awhile on my Choptop once until I finally noticed that the main ground off the battery made a crunchy sound when flexed. I skinned some insulation off and found it was badly corroded inside.

This is somewhat common on older vehicles, and can be very hard to find. That's a good tip on flexing the cable and listening / feeling for "crunchiness".

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

This is somewhat common on older vehicles, and can be very hard to find. That's a good tip on flexing the cable and listening / feeling for "crunchiness".

I’ve also taken to building new battery cables out of welding cable. Bout the same price as battery cable, but fine strand and high flex so it works better than regular battery cable for conducting

 

[RobbieD]

Welding cable is good. I used to use it to relocate the battery to the trunk back in my hotrod days.

 

[cbxer55]

So, took a trip to the liquor store in my Lightning to get some Bourbon. Got home, re-connected the negative terminal after dis-connecting the battery tender. Checked the battery connections and found the bolts that secure the wires to the terminals just a tad loose. Loose enough to cause a problem? Anyway, tightened everything up, put the key in and it fired right up. Much more energetically than it has been doing for some while now. And the red battery symbol on the dash is off again.

Also took my volt gauge and tested the ground that is in front of the battery. Same voltage as the battery, when running, 14.46.

Guess I don't need a new solenoid after all.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. You're all a great bunch. I have five vehicles. This is the most active forum of all of them.

 

[cbxer55]

Checked battery voltage when I got home at midnight last night, slightly higher than it was before I went to work. Checked it again this morning, same. So, nothing is drawing on the battery while it's sittin in the garage gathering dust.

Started up just fine. Went for a drive, no more red battery symbol.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

So, took a trip to the liquor store in my Lightning to get some Bourbon. Got home, re-connected the negative terminal after dis-connecting the battery tender. Checked the battery connections and found the bolts that secure the wires to the terminals just a tad loose. Loose enough to cause a problem? Anyway, tightened everything up, put the key in and it fired right up. Much more energetically than it has been doing for some while now. And the red battery symbol on the dash is off again.

Also took my volt gauge and tested the ground that is in front of the battery. Same voltage as the battery, when running, 14.46.

Guess I don't need a new solenoid after all.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. You're all a great bunch. I have five vehicles. This is the most active forum of all of them.

Yeah loose connections will do just that.

I got a bad habit of not really putting much thought into terminals and have had the same exact shit happen numerous times...youre not alone lol

 

[cbxer55]

Thing is, I couldn't grasp the wires and yank them out of the terminals. So they were not real loose. But, I tightened up the two bolts that grasp the wires, and it started right up. Damn!