Man, I must have been away a looooong time! The look of this forum is so different!
Anyhow, the bitch died on me this morning and although I think I have a diag direction to go I thought I'd ask for input before I proceed.
2004 Astro just under 100K miles.
Backstory - I know mice have been in here because I actually offloaded one about a year ago and found tissues in my trash bucket removed and chewed up. Solution - mothballs. That said, I've thought for several months that the little culprits may have chewed on a little bit of wiring due to dash and radio lights doing odd things, especially when I use turn signals or flashers. Anyhow, it wasn't on my high priority list so I ignored it for time being. My bad! ;-)
Fast forward to 3 days ago when i wanted to go run errands and the engine had difficulty and failed to turn over. Dug out a spare lawn tractor battery and jumped it, ran multiple stop and start errands with no problem. Then this morning when I wanted to go run two errands around the block she started, but just barely. As soon as I got going I checked the charging and it was down a bit from the usual 14.5v. As I got out to the road (100 yards) it was down even further. I made it out to the corner and onto the main road and got about 20 yards and not only was the charging indicator going down even further but power steering and brakes went out. I'm used to driving under these conditions, so I continued up the block and pulled in but left the engine running while I went into one store to make a purchase. Came out and still running, so got back on the road, took the next left using upper body strength, down to the corner and another left and on to the post office. As I got there I realized the charging indicator was getting dangerously low so I decided to continue the remaining 200 yards to home. Got 150 yards and she died, although I did manage to pull off to the side of my single lane dirt road, so no huge problem.
More info: Battery new according to seller about 4 years ago and up until now never any issues with it taking or holding a charge. I replaced the alternator myself with a rebuilt Duralast 18 months ago and up until today has charged consistently at 14.5v.
My suspicion is a faulty ground wire, possibly chewed by little critters. I forgot to check the belt while I was out a while ago to remove the battery, bring it home and put it on a trickle overnight, but I did check it a few months ago and it had no cracks or wear and seemed fine. That said, when I install the battery tomorrow morning I'll check it just to make sure it's not something obvious.
My question is this: Do you think I'm on the right track and if so, where would you start looking first. I intend to look at the primary engine ground(s) first, followed by any other grounds I can find. The last time I was working on the van (replaced the power steering pump - that was a nasty job!) I looked all over the firewall in the engine compartment and pulled, cleaned, treated with dielectric grease and reattached every ground I could see. Also cleaned up the battery contacts really well and treated the same way. The battery leads feel solid and the connections I made still had the dielectric grease on them and were spotless. I had also purchased a red rubber boot for the positive post that had been missing previously, trying to do the right thing by this van.
Any input gratefully appreciated! I'll be out there tomorrow morning hoping I can limp the van the last 50 yards down the dirt road and up into my garage so I can work inside out of the cold and snow (Cape Cod, Mass. - it was in the 20's this morning and a light powder has been coming down most of the day).
Thanks!
Anyhow, the bitch died on me this morning and although I think I have a diag direction to go I thought I'd ask for input before I proceed.
2004 Astro just under 100K miles.
Backstory - I know mice have been in here because I actually offloaded one about a year ago and found tissues in my trash bucket removed and chewed up. Solution - mothballs. That said, I've thought for several months that the little culprits may have chewed on a little bit of wiring due to dash and radio lights doing odd things, especially when I use turn signals or flashers. Anyhow, it wasn't on my high priority list so I ignored it for time being. My bad! ;-)
Fast forward to 3 days ago when i wanted to go run errands and the engine had difficulty and failed to turn over. Dug out a spare lawn tractor battery and jumped it, ran multiple stop and start errands with no problem. Then this morning when I wanted to go run two errands around the block she started, but just barely. As soon as I got going I checked the charging and it was down a bit from the usual 14.5v. As I got out to the road (100 yards) it was down even further. I made it out to the corner and onto the main road and got about 20 yards and not only was the charging indicator going down even further but power steering and brakes went out. I'm used to driving under these conditions, so I continued up the block and pulled in but left the engine running while I went into one store to make a purchase. Came out and still running, so got back on the road, took the next left using upper body strength, down to the corner and another left and on to the post office. As I got there I realized the charging indicator was getting dangerously low so I decided to continue the remaining 200 yards to home. Got 150 yards and she died, although I did manage to pull off to the side of my single lane dirt road, so no huge problem.
More info: Battery new according to seller about 4 years ago and up until now never any issues with it taking or holding a charge. I replaced the alternator myself with a rebuilt Duralast 18 months ago and up until today has charged consistently at 14.5v.
My suspicion is a faulty ground wire, possibly chewed by little critters. I forgot to check the belt while I was out a while ago to remove the battery, bring it home and put it on a trickle overnight, but I did check it a few months ago and it had no cracks or wear and seemed fine. That said, when I install the battery tomorrow morning I'll check it just to make sure it's not something obvious.
My question is this: Do you think I'm on the right track and if so, where would you start looking first. I intend to look at the primary engine ground(s) first, followed by any other grounds I can find. The last time I was working on the van (replaced the power steering pump - that was a nasty job!) I looked all over the firewall in the engine compartment and pulled, cleaned, treated with dielectric grease and reattached every ground I could see. Also cleaned up the battery contacts really well and treated the same way. The battery leads feel solid and the connections I made still had the dielectric grease on them and were spotless. I had also purchased a red rubber boot for the positive post that had been missing previously, trying to do the right thing by this van.
Any input gratefully appreciated! I'll be out there tomorrow morning hoping I can limp the van the last 50 yards down the dirt road and up into my garage so I can work inside out of the cold and snow (Cape Cod, Mass. - it was in the 20's this morning and a light powder has been coming down most of the day).
Thanks!
