Impromptu Airport Pick-up (ATL)

[thirdmanj]

So there I was, flying down to the ATL to surprise my sister for her birthday, and slipped of the toilet hit my head, and when I came to I had this revelation! A vision! A picture in my head... Wait, wrong story.... Oh yeah, I had this great idea to network a bit and see if a local DeLorean owner could pick me up at the airport a double down on the surprise! Well it worked! Chris (Accipiter) and his immaculate DMC-12 braved Atlanta traffic, at night, and got me there to surprise my sister safe and sound. We stopped off at Tin-Roof, got a couple brews, and talked politics (ooooh no) and DeLoreans, then proceeded downtown for the main event! Everything went swell! We got completely mobbed by people but it was all good! Thanks again Chris!!! You made the night!

[ccurzio]

Very happy to have helped, man. Your sister's reaction was worth the entire trip.

My night ended up much more differently than yours. Remember those two friends of mine we met up with? Yeah, they got completely smashed and I made sure both of them got home. Using the DeLorean. Imagine cramming two drunk tall guys into this car and trying to effectively get both of them home in a reasonable manner without the ejection of bodily fluids. Add in some massive electrical failures (you were right about my voltage being low; the car completely died three times), and it made for an interesting evening.

I didn't get home until around 6am.

[thirdmanj]

Very happy to have helped, man. Your sister's reaction was worth the entire trip.

My night ended up much more differently than yours. Remember those two friends of mine we met up with? Yeah, they got completely smashed and I made sure both of them got home. Using the DeLorean. Imagine cramming two drunk tall guys into this car and trying to effectively get both of them home in a reasonable manner without the ejection of bodily fluids. Add in some massive electrical failures (you were right about my voltage being low; the car completely died three times), and it made for an interesting evening.

I didn't get home until around 6am.

Fuck dude. I feel terrible! So sorry to hear about that! I thought your voltage was a little low, but I'm still glad you got home ok! New alternator in your future?

[ccurzio]

Hah, don't feel bad. Everything made for a hilariously memorable evening.

I have no idea what's up with the electrical system. I got home at around 6am and went straight to bed. Woke up at around 11:30 and went to work on the car pretty much immediately. I hooked up my battery/alternator charger/analyzer to the posts in the engine bay and after running for two minutes the thing came back with SERVICE OR REPLACE BATTERY. So I thought that was pretty conclusive until I pulled the battery out (which is when I found that the carpet was soggy), and hooked it directly to the charger. It ran constantly until it popped up a green light saying BATTERY CHARGED. Thought "well shit, it must be the alternator" so I put the battery back on the system and did an alternator analysis. I started the car and made sure there was zero electrical load, and after running for a minute it came back with a green light and said ALTERNATOR GOOD.

The strangest part is that every single instance the previous night indicated that the battery itself was completely drained. Whenever power to the engine was cut, the car itself would no longer function in any way. No lights, no response from any electrical system whatsoever. It required a jump to get going every time. When I got home that night and pulled into the garage, cutting power to the engine killed the car immediately with the same thing - no lights and no restart. Completely dead battery. And yet the next morning, putting the battery on the charger showed a 100% charge right from the get-go and after putting everything back together the car has been working just fine. I don't get it.

[Cory W]

The strangest part is that every single instance the previous night indicated that the battery itself was completely drained. Whenever power to the engine was cut, the car itself would no longer function in any way. No lights, no response from any electrical system whatsoever. It required a jump to get going every time. When I got home that night and pulled into the garage, cutting power to the engine killed the car immediately with the same thing - no lights and no restart. Completely dead battery. And yet the next morning, putting the battery on the charger showed a 100% charge right from the get-go and after putting everything back together the car has been working just fine. I don't get it.

This sort of thing has happened to me on other vehicles when the positive battery connections were loose. Have you followed the positive cable any length?

[Ron]

I was going to suggest the same thing...could be either side loose (so maybe you "serviced the battery" ;-)

[Shep]

Completely dead battery. And yet the next morning, putting the battery on the charger showed a 100% charge right from the get-go

This part almost sounds like the battery had reached the end of its lifespan, and the capacity had dwindled enough that the charge it does hold is insignificant and thus needs replacing. But the rest seems like the alternator is providing just enough electricity to power everything, but not enough to additionally charge the battery, which would make it unnoticeable until the car is powered off. In any case, have you used dedicated testers for both alternator and battery to see what the condition of both are? AutoZone has them if you don't, and it'll tell you if one of them needs replacing. At the very least, it'll give you peace of mind, but I would rule those two out before chasing down wiring problems since those are a bigger PITA to track down.