I am having a hard time keeping my battery charged up in a 1995 Bonneville (not supercharged)...

The Battery has checked out as good (purchased last summer) and I have purchased and installed a new Alternator. I also installed new battery bolts and spacer...

The car starts and runs perfect..Very solid car with no leaks or smoke. But as soon as the battery goes dead, so does the car....

I appreciate the help and suggestions...

Welcome to the bonneville club.

Check all of your cables, make sure all connections are clean. Check the cable bwtween the alternator and the battery. Make sure all plugs are clean. How many volts are you getting while the car is running?

Thanks! I'm getting only 11 volts so the charged battery runs out pretty quickly...

I think it could be the line from the alternator to the battery too...I just do not know how to check it..I have a voltmeter if that helps...

For fun, I had a auto parts store do a check on the OLD alternator (before I turned it in for the core charge) and the old alternator checked out fine...

I also have a stock alarm on the car that does not get used...I'm not sure if it is still hooked up or not..I would like to know what fuse that runs off of so that I can see if that is a possible problem..The car is a one owner car and has never even had the stock deck changed so I have a pretty good history of the car..

Regards,

Dan

You could check the Ohms of the cable, but I don't recall what the readings should be. But it sounds like the voltage from the alt isn't making it to the battery, and there for running down. Replacing the cables may be in order.

Thanks!

I will google up some remedy'* for this issue...

If that doesn't work, I think it could be a bad ground somewhere.. Would you happen to know what fuse they connected the stock alarm to?

If you are getting 11 volts while the car is running, how does that pass the test? You should have 14 volts.

You have two grounds in play. A thin one which runs from the negative terminal cable loom to the sidewall right above the battery. The other one is the engine block ground from the battery. It runs from the positive terminal, down underneath the front of the engine to the bottom of the block, in front of your oil pan.

If you have ramps, put the car up and you can get at it from the front with a socket and a short extension. To truly check and clean your cables, this one has to be backed off of the block and checked underneath for corrosion. Either brush it real good, or use an electrical unit cleaner. Both the connector loop and the block area. Put some dielectric grease on it and torque that baby down real firmly.

Clean and grease all connections related to the battery, no cheating.

I have had my '95 for 12 years and 75% of the time something whacky happens that'* electrical (that can be dash, gauges, lights etc) or power cuts, it'* those stinkin' battery cables, or the bus ground for wires that run under your front door rails.

If you want to save yourself some headaches, do those battery cables twice a year as regular maintenance. That includes the engine block ground, because that'* the most likely culprit.

Oh, and BTW, don't Google the Net for answers on Bonnevilles or 3800 engines. The people here and BonnevillePro (OT:I'm assuming you two are friendly, Dan?) have been through hundreds of thousands of problems thread, they can diagnose problems on-line better than most independent mechanics can with hands-on. The reason is that they have heard so many things repeat themselves over the years, they are way more familiar with common problems than a mechanic who works on all different kinds of cars. (end of lecture).

Bonne On,

charlie

Yes, I do have ramps...I will go clean and grease this morning..This could be the problem, dirty grounds. The car had been sitting for several months outside and not started or driven..

Thanks Again!

Does your car have automatic leveling for the back end? Meaning..what model do you have SE or SSE. If you have automatic leveling. Locate the compressor on the driverside fender area and unplug it.

Good call, Bill. I got another year plus out of my 87 Regency doing that each nite. LOL I was always going to wire a toggle switch to it.............

Hi, this "95" Bonneville is my sis'* car and I should probably check on the exact trim of the car. Their are no emblems in the back and no supercharger so I automatically assumed it was the SE...

She asked me to fix it and keep it or get rid of it for her....