Cote222

Hey there everyone,

So to start with the truck just went dead on me out of nowhere. It was -32 out when it happened. Boosted the truck and it started than would stop right away. Towed it home. Try to start now and just get a clicking noise - already swapped out the starter and still the same thing. The battery is good however if I try to jump start it or hook up a charger to it the truck will than lose everything and act like the battery is completely dead. Remove cables and it will get power to the truck again but than just give me a click. The last time I attempted to boost it the cables got so hot I couldn’t touch them. I’m at a loss and any tips or ideas would be awesome! It’s a 2000

kevinkpk

You have either a loose battery connection, or a battery that has an internal short thus drawing the heat, I'd check connections.

Cote222

I’ve triple checked the connections and everything is good there. Also tried with a different battery and same outcome.

kevinkpk

IMO you have something draining the battery. My take all non essetianl fuses out, then try jumping it.

Cote222

I have not tried that however as soon as I hook it up to boost it wether it be with another vehicle or my charger the truck itself will than go dead, with nothing hooked up I get dash lights, interior lights etc and it will just click when I turn the key. As soon as I put jumper cables or booster cables to it than i don’t have any communication to anything. No dash lights etc.

chem_man

Disconnect the alternator from the battery and then try to start your truck. You could have an internal short in the alternator.

Cote222

this is something I have not tried yet but how would I go about doing so? I also don’t want to wreck anything in my troubleshooting.

oldchevy

Did you check your battery cables for corrosion and looseness at both ends. Could be a bad ground cable and it may look good but still have a bad cable or bad connection where it is connected to ground, not at the battery.

Cote222

I have tried that yes and still nothing. I am really at a loss seems really weird that when I hook up booster cables or a charger than the whole truck dies when it should be recieving constant power

chem_man

Well, it certainly appears that you have a short someplace. I would remove the positive battery cable to the starter and see what happens. Inspect the entire length of the positive battery cable looking for cracks, rub marks, and burn marks. The other thing you could do would be to remove the starter and bench test it. Also, remove the alternator and have it tested at an auto parts store like NAPA, Autozone, Advanced or O'Reilly to make sure nothing is wrong with it.

By the way when I said to disconnect the alternator from the battery, I meant to remove the heavy red cable from the alternator and not the multiwire plug that goes into the alternator.