*Monday, i fixed my coolant leak, and i replaced the alternator.*

I wake up this morning, start my car, like the night before it seemed to start slow. i had work today, so i was just gonna wait until i was off tomorrow to see what it was.
I go to 7-11 about 1 mile away from home. turn the car off, go inside. i come back out, car wont start for shit. nothing. nada. no ding ding, no lights, no bells, no dash, no radio clock....nothin!
im thinking alternator...new one could be bad!
i call a tow, free pick up) so i have it dropped off at my uncles house so i can use his tools. i get there, car off the flatbed, for shits and giggles i go to start the car, and it started right up! i turned it off and then it was dead again!
so i proceed to take the alternator off, belt off, the battery out, drain coolant (had to mix it with more water since it was all coolant.).
i take batt and alt to autoparts store, they check it out, they say both are good....now im baffeled. i go to chevy to pick up a new belt (didnt need it but said fuck it, if its off i may as well change it.) and a coolant level sensor since the last one was shot to shit.
i get back home, thinking about what it is....so i change a few hoses out, change the oil, replace the sensor, put that shit back together, close up a vaccum hose that i found that fell off, cleaned some stuff off the bottom end, bought a K&N air filter, and come to find that...

THE FUCKING BATTERY TERMINAL WAS CORRODED!!!!!11!!!

that was my fucking problem!!!11!! after all that extra shit i did that was why my fucking car would not start!!!! DAMMIT to hell!

now i feel stupid.

 

Don't feel too bad man. It is funny though lol. Is the battery the original gm battery? If so the terminal may be leaking battery acid. My last to gm vehicles had that problem. Luckily the camaro did have the starting issues, but my s10 did. Sometimes it would work, and other times it wouldn't. Anyway you might want to check into getting a new battery if the terminal is leaking, the acid will run down the cable and corode it pretty bad.

 

well the corrosion i think came from my overflow tank spewing out coolant every now and then, which is next to the battery, which probably created the corrosion is my guess. the battery is no way 10 years old lol

 

well, now you dont have to worry about replacing that shit now since its already done. good work dumbass..... JFWY.

 

hate to laugh about it but i went through the same thing, i would get in my car and all the lights would come on, then as i turned the key, everything shut off. i mean EVERYTHING!.

ended up being the cable connection was really loose.

 

battery corrosion is generally caused by minute leaks around the posts....... Ac delcos are famous for it...

 

GOD thats the worst feeling. The feeling of throwing endless money at a problem that is a monor fix.

 

Its a GM, the parts would've goen bad in the next month anyways.

 

Reminds me of the day I decided to drive the Buick to work.

I came out to the car that evening, got in, and something didn't seem right. The dome light wasn't on.

I figured the button in the door was stuck or something, so I went ahead and put the key in and turned. Nothing. No ding, no lights on the dash, no click, nada.
Pull out the headlight knob, nothing.

So I figure, the lights weren't on, the door wasn't open, the battery shouldn't have drained. Even if it had, usually you get SOMETHING. So I popped the hood.

It's dark, so I'm fumbling around trying to find the battery cable. Wiggled the wires, and the lights flickered on. Well that's WIERD. At least there's power, now why wasn't it working?

My eyes adjusted to the light, and finally I figured it out. One of the wires had completely severed from rust/corrosion, and was now resting on the remainder of the wire on the battery terminal (side screw-in type).

So I set the wire on the terminal, just barely connecting the frayed wire together. Got in, turned the key, car fired right up.
Driving home, I was so glad it happened while *I* was driving, not my finacee, as she would have called me to pick her up.
When I hit my brakes, my headlights would dim, but otherwise, no major problems. Once the car was started, it ran off the alternator, the wire quickly fell off where I had it connected.

I hadn't really thought much about it, but I guess a short against the body of the car would have been a problem, fortunately that didn't happen.

I could have cut the wire and snugged it down on the clamp, but decided to just replace both wires, that way I'd know they're new.