Quarterwave

Hi all,

First post on this forum as a new (well, to me), Astro owner. Further to the subject, my 1996, 4.3 auto is giving me problems. I just bought it from a dealer yesterday and it drove fine. This morning though, I go to turn it on, and sure enough, nothing - not even dash lights.

After reading some posts here, it seems that the distributor cap and then ignition coil may be the culprits, as again - yesterday, the van started first click after stopping off at a few places on the way home from the dealer (gas, friend's house etc....).

NOTE - I live in Miami and as it's the rainy season, it did rain last night - which is what got me to notice some of the posts re the dizzy cap and coil getting moisture.

Aside from a dead battery, do we have any other ideas - if so, any possible solutions would be much appreciated, as I need the van to haul some things on Saturday morning (new job).

Thanks in advance for any help.

B Rgds,

Quarterwave

Thanks Gary - the battery was dead and so I installed a new one, drove it to work that night and it was all ok - even on the return drive home, all was good (earlier in the day, I had a mechanic come out to my place and he advised that the alternator and starter were both functioning as they should)....

However, when I went out to start it this afternoon, same exact scenario - all dead. So, I grabbed some jumper cables and jump started the battery, and all was good (I took it for a LONG drive - around 35 miles @ freeway speed).

IMO - it now seems that there is a drain somewhere in the electrical system, so I pulled the positive terminal off the battery and will try it again in the morning.

Are you aware of any common areas that could be the source of that drain ? As I can see it becoming a needle in a haystack search, and if that's the case, I'll just put a manual cut off in line with the positive battery cable.

Any ideas are appreciated in advance.

Thanks,

Quarterwave

Thanks Gary,

I'll head out to an auto store today and will look for the tool that you mentioned in your post. For now, the van started this morning as soon I put the positive lead back on the battery terminal, so it seems like there IS a drain happening somewhere.

Thanks for the testing idea - I would never have thought of doing it that way.

I will keep you posted with how I go with it all.

B Rgds,

jelectrico

Well it may seem like a needle in a haystack at first, but I would start with simple checks at first.
With the ignition key off I would check if there is any accessory still on.
Then I would check the wiring harnesses for any visible damage.
Most of the circuits are protected by fuses, which in turn would blow if there was a short, but sometimes a stuck relay may cause power drainage, those must be checked.

Quarterwave

I forgot to reply to this thread, for anyone that needs help with this in the future. It ended up being a bad relay, which was draining the electrical system.