Fellas,

The Jag has been sitting for several weeks, and now has a dead battery. She fires right up when jumped, but even after driving on the freeway for 20 minutes, when I shut it off, the battery will barely illuminate the interior lights. The gauge shows charging range to be normal. Guess it's time for me to buy a multimeter and get down to the root cause, but in the meantime I have a couple of questions.

1. which battery would you recommend? Currently installed is an Everstart Maxx 47-n. I understand this is an Exide or Johnson Controls rebadge for Walmart. 750 cranking amps, 590 cold. edit: mfg date Nov 09

2. recommend me a multimeter. It's been a long time since I studied electrical theory, so one with auto-ranging would be nice.

I suspect it could be the antenna, as when I turned off the ignition, it partially retracted then stopped.

Thanks, as always!

 

My antenna had a short that would cause the battery to drain down in a few days time. Took me awhile to figure out it was the antenna... got to the point that I installed a quick disconnect on the battery and would just disconnect it after putting the car away in the garage. This may be a good solution for you while you track down the location of your short.

You can always pull the fuse to verify that is the cause (there is a separate fuse for the aerial/antenna from the radio if I recall correctly). Use an ammeter to measure across the fuse contacts when the ignition is off.

Replaced my antenna with a generic GM replacement auto retracting antenna from Autozone. Cost about $30-$40. Came with a variety of bushings to properly fit on top of the car. I also bypassed the 10 second delay as I couldn't figure out why I'd want that in the circuit.

Harbor Freight sells cheap multimeters that go on sale for $1 that will do 97% of what you need. When they aren't on sale they cost around $4 - $5. I usually buy a couple when they are on sale, and when the battery dies I just throw it away. Not autoranging, but I don't ever recall a point that I needed that.

Cheers,

- Will

 

macboots, thanks for the info. I don't recall where I first heard of the antenna problem, but it was most likely your post on the subject. I pulled the battery and will take it to Autozone tomorrow - I understand they will test / charge it free.

 

Yes they will test it for free. Any of the big chain auto parts stores (Napa, Advance, Pep Boys, etc.) will in fact.

But if the battery is bad, buy it off their website for in store pickup. For example, Advance has a website coupon code DL20 or P20 that will save you 20%. BIG30 may also still be working, which will give you $30 any order $75 or more (and whatever battery you pick will almost assuredly cost you that much). When you goto checkout, select "in store pickup."

Otherwise if you buy it in store you'll be paying full retail... Once I figured this out I haven't paid full retail for high dollar items from those places again!

You can also buy this battery tester from Harbor Freight and just test it at home. I've used it and it's pretty nice:

Battery Tester - Save on this 6v/12v Battery Load Tester

Cheers,

- Will

 

Thanks again for all the helpful information. Great community we have here!

 

If you replace your battery, remember that a trunk-mounted standard battery must be vented. Otherwise, outgassing can cause either severe rust or an explosion, neither of which makes for a good day. I had trouble finding a battery for my '91 (which was actually built in Oct. 1990). I understand a change was made in the battery during the 1991 year. I ended up buying an Optima red-top, which has a gel medium and does not outgas. It fits fine but the battery cover is a bit wonky.

 

Yeah, I didn't see a vent hose when I uninstalled it. Will look into the gel types. Thanks