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kevin_standleeYesterday afternoon, despite the wind, I thought I'd run out and get a few perishables like milk. I got in the Astro, turned the key. Click. Nothing happened. Dead battery. I let Lisa know, and again, despite the wind, we did need to get this fixed. Jump-starting the Astro off of one of our other vehicles was actually a bit dangerous in the high winds, because the wind might catch the hood of either vehicle and flip it up to cause damage. Her idea was to get out the battery charger and attach it to the Astro's battery, with me holding on to the hood while it was open. She got out the long heavy-duty extension cord we bought for use in Tonopah, ran it from an outdoor outlet installed near the travel trailer out to the minivan, and brought out the battery charger. I brought out a small pallet on which the charger would sit out of the dirt.
Next issue: the hood wouldn't open. This has been an ongoing issue even after we replaced the hood-release cable. Working together, we managed to get the hood open. With me holding the hood against any wind gusts, Lisa made more adjustments to the cable and latch, and we got it working again.
Lisa attached the charger to the battery and lowered the hood so it caught on the first, but not the full-closed latch. This kept it from flying open in the wind but also didn't crimp the charging cable.
About half an hour later, she came back to confirm that the battery was charging properly, and in the process discovered what had drained it in the first place. The dome light was on, not because the door was open, but because I'd apparently bumped the switch a couple of days ago the last time I drove it, and it had sat there draining the battery. She turned it off, confirmed that power was flowing into the battery, and went off to make dinner.
After dinner, Lisa was able to start the car. She put away the charger and cord, I put the pallet away, and we went out for an evening drive down to Hazen and back, which gave the car about a 30 minute run mostly at highway speed and full power. The alternator gauge returned to the normal position, so we think we should be okay.
It's just as well this happened last night (although of course it was annoying having to do the work in all that wind), because we have an appointment this afternoon in Reno and it would have been even more annoying if the first time we'd discovered the problem was when we were getting ready to leave to go to Reno.
Next issue: the hood wouldn't open. This has been an ongoing issue even after we replaced the hood-release cable. Working together, we managed to get the hood open. With me holding the hood against any wind gusts, Lisa made more adjustments to the cable and latch, and we got it working again.
Lisa attached the charger to the battery and lowered the hood so it caught on the first, but not the full-closed latch. This kept it from flying open in the wind but also didn't crimp the charging cable.
About half an hour later, she came back to confirm that the battery was charging properly, and in the process discovered what had drained it in the first place. The dome light was on, not because the door was open, but because I'd apparently bumped the switch a couple of days ago the last time I drove it, and it had sat there draining the battery. She turned it off, confirmed that power was flowing into the battery, and went off to make dinner.
After dinner, Lisa was able to start the car. She put away the charger and cord, I put the pallet away, and we went out for an evening drive down to Hazen and back, which gave the car about a 30 minute run mostly at highway speed and full power. The alternator gauge returned to the normal position, so we think we should be okay.
It's just as well this happened last night (although of course it was annoying having to do the work in all that wind), because we have an appointment this afternoon in Reno and it would have been even more annoying if the first time we'd discovered the problem was when we were getting ready to leave to go to Reno.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-30 11:26 pm (UTC)