badm

91 LS has been running well. Drove to work and parked inside garage. Hottest day of the season so far. Near 100 with high humidity. Parking garage is like a sauna. Drove 30 mins with AC on and ran normal. Last night went to leave. No power anywhere in car. No dome lights, locks, etc.

Attempted jump start with another vehicle... Starter engaged with key and sounded strong. Strangely still no power to rest of car. Checked battery terminals. No change.

Since power made it to the ignition switch and to the starter but nothing else... where could the fault lie? Starter only engages while jumping yet it sounds quite strong right away leadiing me away from dead battery. It is not new but no warning signs of failure.

PS fluid does leak a little but not bad. Alternator not wet. No apparent signs of lights or equip left on to drain battery either.

Good ideas?? Let em rip.

badm

202K

I know its early. Grab some coffee.

LScowboyLS

PS steering leaks in this model kill alternators

check all fuses, and fuse links, but it is likely you need a new alternator that the power steering fluid killed, and further, you need a new battery that the lack of alternator charging killed - I would also suggest replacing the + battery terminal with the $15 part from the dealership

badm

Aware of the PS situation and have been keeping an eye on it. No moisture on alt to date. Have experience with dying/dead alts and batts. No common symptoms presented before total failure. I would have noticed low current on way to work running full bore.

Have new terminals on battery. Installed properly with NOALOX.

All advice appreciated. Not being critical just have another 5 hours at work to chew on the problem before I can tackle it. Agreed on checking all fuses/links. Was hoping someone out there would have that AHH!!! moment with past experience of the exact problem. It's hot out and would love to save some time.

Even a dead batt would not explain the jumping problem last night. Immediate power to ignition and starter but nothing else is where I am baffled. Is there a low volt cutoff somewhere in the LS? The starter turned the engine stronger than ever as soon as cables were applied. ODD if the battery were toast.

LScowboyLS

there are very few things that can cause a total power loss in this vehicle: fuses, fuse links, ground issues, are the most likely, followed by battery terminals and battery and I am already out of other candidates

I know you feel your battery and alternator are fine, but just humor me and put a voltmeter across the battery now, and again later once it is running, you might be in for an epiphany!

you are looking for at least 12.6V with car off and 13.8V with car on at idle and headlights on

if you locate a fuse or fuse link that is blown, you need to investigate why it is blown

badm

Will do ASAP. I have my meter with me. On the list of afternoon procedures. Hope you're right.

badm

UPDATE

Catastrophic batt failure as I turned the car off or as it sat parked. Wiped out 5 fusible links under hood and random interior fuses.

New 27F and time spent chasing the damage and she's back. Cannot blame that one on the car itself. Alt is still good.

Thanks for the advice.

fixmiester

So you're saying that a bad battery somehow took out a bunch of moosy fusible links, and several fuses, while the car was off? Never heard of such a thing, and from an electrical standpoint, it would have required a MAJOR short, or possibly an alternator dumping maximum voltage for several minutes, to create such a problem.
Don't celebrate yet; there's something else going on.