Dead Battery Again, Clicking Noise - Taurus Car Club of America : Ford Taurus Forum

twiztedstudiez · 10-21-2008, 12:14 PM

I bought a new battery a couple days ago and have drove with it a couple times since then and everything seemed fine. Today I went out to my car to turn the tires so I could start working on the CAI and the battery is dead AGAIN. Completely dead. When I try to turn the ignition I hear a constant clicking noise down by the brake pedal.

Click-click-click-click.... even with the keys out of the ignition.

I'm pretty mad now that I bought this battery and it worked fine for a few days and now it's dead again. Any ideas on what it might be? And what is clicking.

gohim · 10-21-2008, 01:30 PM

Your car probably has a bad/or some bad connections between the battery, the alternator, the starter, and chassis ground.

The battery will not charge without good solid electrical connections. The alternator connects with the positive battery terminal down on the starter, and and with ground on the left inner fender.

On my Taurus Wagon, the ground connection on the left inner fender was covered with cloth electrical tape at the Ford Factory (probably to protect it from corrosion. The connection was slightly corroded, and loose when I removed the tape to inspect it when I had a similar problem to yours.

Jeff K · 10-21-2008, 05:37 PM

While gohim is most probably right, once many years ago, I had a brand new battery last all of 2 weeks due to a shorted cell. Might want to get the new batt checked out just for the heck of it.

twiztedstudiez · 10-21-2008, 08:06 PM

I'm thinking it's the connections on the battery terminals. I played around with them a bit and pushed them down hard and the car started right up after about 2-3 trys of moving the cables around on the terminals.

The ends of the cable that connect to the battery posts are definitely rusted/corroded quite a bit, mainly the negative side. Is there better quality cables I can buy to replace them and does anyone have a how-to on how to do it. Also, I have a sound system (been unhooked for a while since I'm redoing my trunk liner) so I'd also like a battery cable that's easy to hook my amp to.

The ground cable from the battery is in perfect condition and is still factory tight.

Here's a picture:

10-21-2008, 12:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
twiztedstudiez Junior Member Member Number: 17018 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Arkansas Visit: My Garage Posts: 59 Trader Score: 0 reviews Rep Power: 0	I bought a new battery a couple days ago and have drove with it a couple times since then and everything seemed fine. Today I went out to my car to turn the tires so I could start working on the CAI and the battery is dead AGAIN. Completely dead. When I try to turn the ignition I hear a constant clicking noise down by the brake pedal. Click-click-click-click.... even with the keys out of the ignition. I'm pretty mad now that I bought this battery and it worked fine for a few days and now it's dead again. Any ideas on what it might be? And what is clicking. __________________ 1999 Ford Taurus SE Vulcan / Tan in Black out Currently: Fixing electrical problem, trunk Delta 417- Technology Forum

10-21-2008, 05:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jeff K Technical Advisor Member Number: 11378 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Milwaukee, WI Visit: My Garage Posts: 4,071 Trader Score: 0 reviews Rep Power: 15	While gohim is most probably right, once many years ago, I had a brand new battery last all of 2 weeks due to a shorted cell. Might want to get the new batt checked out just for the heck of it. __________________ 05 Taurus SEL Duratec - my daily driver 04 Taurus SES Duratec - wifes car 95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter car Toy #1 - 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner) - LOTS of mods Toy #2 - 88 Tbird Turbo Coupe - LOTS of mods 02 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized

10-21-2008, 08:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
twiztedstudiez Junior Member Member Number: 17018 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Arkansas Visit: My Garage Posts: 59 Trader Score: 0 reviews Rep Power: 0	I'm thinking it's the connections on the battery terminals. I played around with them a bit and pushed them down hard and the car started right up after about 2-3 trys of moving the cables around on the terminals. The ends of the cable that connect to the battery posts are definitely rusted/corroded quite a bit, mainly the negative side. Is there better quality cables I can buy to replace them and does anyone have a how-to on how to do it. Also, I have a sound system (been unhooked for a while since I'm redoing my trunk liner) so I'd also like a battery cable that's easy to hook my amp to. The ground cable from the battery is in perfect condition and is still factory tight. Here's a picture: __________________ 1999 Ford Taurus SE Vulcan / Tan in Black out Currently: Fixing electrical problem, trunk Delta 417- Technology Forum

10-21-2008, 01:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
gohim Devoted Member Member Number: 5485 Join Date: Jun 2005 Visit: My Garage Posts: 1,584 Trader Score: 0 reviews Rep Power: 0	Your car probably has a bad/or some bad connections between the battery, the alternator, the starter, and chassis ground. The battery will not charge without good solid electrical connections. The alternator connects with the positive battery terminal down on the starter, and and with ground on the left inner fender. On my Taurus Wagon, the ground connection on the left inner fender was covered with cloth electrical tape at the Ford Factory (probably to protect it from corrosion. The connection was slightly corroded, and loose when I removed the tape to inspect it when I had a similar problem to yours.

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