Truck was parked for a month...now has major electrical issue.

[Davetopay]

1970 GMC K1500, 350/4spd last driven in the second week of December. I assumed the cold did a number on the battery because it needed a jump to get going. Only problem is while driving it, it has no lights of ANY kind, no signals, and no horn. Well, the horn lets out a miniscule little moan, but that is it. It drives and idles ok, but when you try to do anything electrical the tach takes a nose dive.

My first thought is that there is a bad cell in the battery and it won't pass enough current to operate the lights/signals. The gauge in the dash shows the alternator is putting out a charge.

Any thoughts?
My next move is to take the battery to the parts store for testing.

[Davetopay]

Ok. Battery tested as having 20CCA

So, I had them toss it on the charger. after 40 mins on the charger it tested at 661CCA. Took it home, dropped it in and it starts on the first revolution.

Now I get the feeling that there must be a slow drain elsewhere in the electrical.......

...I am thinking that a disconnect is a good answer for now.

[cdowns]

i'd think a battery tender battery charger would b better at keeping your battery properly charged than any disconnect wood b

[Davetopay]

Originally Posted by cdowns

i'd think a battery tender battery charger would b better at keeping your battery properly charged than any disconnect wood b

Not an option. No driveway, let alone garage. I have to keep it parked on my street and running a cord out the door/window and down the sidewalk is probably a bad idea. I was just thinking about preventing any drain.

[68GMCCustom]

there are small solar systems that install "on" the vehicle?

[csb#356]

If you have a test light you can hook it from the negative cable to the negative terminal on the battery and just start pulling fuses until it doesn't light up. Then you know what circuit is giving you your issue and you can look further into it from there. I have this same problem on one of my trucks and it is very annoying to unhook the battery every night

[Davetopay]

Originally Posted by csb#356

If you have a test light you can hook it from the negative cable to the negative terminal on the battery and just start pulling fuses until it doesn't light up. Then you know what circuit is giving you your issue and you can look further into it from there. I have this same problem on one of my trucks and it is very annoying to unhook the battery every night

Thanks! The funny thing is, as soon as I read this I knew that this was what I should have done in the first place. DUH. Amazing the stuff you forget when you don't use it.