[ReclusivePro]

have an 89 astro, this problem started a years ago in the winter...
for some reason (more often when its cold) ill go out and start my van up and when i first turn the key it turns as if the battery is about dead..
then after a second or 2 it starts to pick up speed (some time the battery does completely die.) and during that time everything else in the van losses power, radio, lights, cigarette lighter, etc.
i know its normal for things to ether shut off or like the lights dim.
but everything actually turns off. IE: radio looses presets..
during all this Ive replaced..
battery.
battery terminals.
starter.
rerun all the wire to the starter.
and when replacing the engine mounting bracket after the bracket broke around the power steering pump i replaced the ground wire and put in new bolt..
and when I was at autozone one day getting a new lower water hose (when the bracket broke the belt cut the hose) I heard some guy with an 92 astro talking to the guy at the counter saying he was having the same issue.

I have a temp fix right now for it, I've actually run a pair of 4 gauge wire to the back of the van under the rear seat to keep an extra battery connected.. with a spare fully charged battery sitting next to that in case they both die (happened twice in 8 months)

so any one know what causes that.

 

[red95astro]

You've listed all the most common causes of your problem . I can only think of one other thing you can try. I had the same problem on an old cutlass I used to have. Sometimes the battery would go dead on me, especially when trying to start the engine. When starting, does your engine turn over extremely slow as if the battery is just about geag, then sometimes it will start off slow then crank a bit faster? This is what my cutlass was doing. I had a mechanic look at it and all he did was adjust the ign timing a bit and it fired right up from then on. The ign timing was off a bit and causing more compression in the cylinder chamber, therefore making the starter work twice as hard to crank against all that pressure. This may or may not be the root of your problem, but its worth a shot to get your timing checked out.