pat97vette Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 My girlfriend's Edge is 2 years old, she drives it every day to college. She just went to the garage, opened the door and the light didn't come on. She turned the key, but nothing. She drove it home with no issues 4 hours prior. So, I hopped in, no interior lights lit up. I turned the key all the way to Start and the MPH gauge jumped. I figured the battery was the culprit, so I looked and the eye was green but heard a faint clicking noise like it was coming from underneath the battery. I hooked up the VOM and it said 6V across the terminals. Disconnected the battery from the car and it read 14V. Put a load on the battery and it was fine. Cleaned up the leads, reinstalled on battery, faint clicking noise under the battery and 6V across the terminals. Something is continuously running in the engine compartment (air pump?) drawing this battery down. Nothing in the car is plugged in at all and she didn't leave the light on whens he came home. Has anyone else experienced this? FYI: I'm a pretty competent shadetree mechanic who runs 97vette.com to help other Vette owners work on their Vettes, but I can't figure out what's going on with my girlfriend's Edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat97vette Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Disconnected the battery, put it on a charger, which charged it for only 30 seconds then indicated it was full. Reconnected battery, and the clicking noise was loud enough to identify where it was coming from, the fuse block in the engine compartment. I pulled the large relay in there and it still did it. I don't know where this clicking noise is coming from. It sounds like it's behind the fuse block. I posted a video to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI4mbnfhatc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyerjmr33 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Disconnected the battery, put it on a charger, which charged it for only 30 seconds then indicated it was full. Reconnected battery, and the clicking noise was loud enough to identify where it was coming from, the fuse block in the engine compartment. I pulled the large relay in there and it still did it. I don't know where this clicking noise is coming from. It sounds like it's behind the fuse block. I posted a video to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI4mbnfhatc All you have done is shown the surface voltage of the battery--- More than likely this battery is sulfated and will not provide any amperage. Any slight load will show a low voltage. Once in a while, a slow charge will remove the sulfation, but more than likely, a new battery is in order here. Try a set of jumper cables from a decent battery and see if the Edge will start--- or take that battery to an Autozone store or a Walmart or Sam's Club for testing. They have testers that are capable of testing a discharged battery and will give you the actual capacity in MAH. Anything that comes up below 80% of capacity is a bad battery--- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 All you have done is shown the surface voltage of the battery--- More than likely this battery is sulfated and will not provide any amperage. Any slight load will show a low voltage. Once in a while, a slow charge will remove the sulfation, but more than likely, a new battery is in order here. Try a set of jumper cables from a decent battery and see if the Edge will start--- or take that battery to an Autozone store or a Walmart or Sam's Club for testing. They have testers that are capable of testing a discharged battery and will give you the actual capacity in MAH. Anything that comes up below 80% of capacity is a bad battery--- Exactly. The battery is toast. Did you check the fluid level? My 08 battery died in a similar fashion and I found it was almost a quart low on fluid. Replaced with distilled water and recharged but it didn't hold. Get a new battery or at least get the old one load tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 My girlfriend's Edge is 2 years old, she drives it every day to college. She just went to the garage, opened the door and the light didn't come on. She turned the key, but nothing. She drove it home with no issues 4 hours prior. So, I hopped in, no interior lights lit up. I turned the key all the way to Start and the MPH gauge jumped. I figured the battery was the culprit, so I looked and the eye was green but heard a faint clicking noise like it was coming from underneath the battery. I hooked up the VOM and it said 6V across the terminals. Disconnected the battery from the car and it read 14V. Put a load on the battery and it was fine. Cleaned up the leads, reinstalled on battery, faint clicking noise under the battery and 6V across the terminals. Something is continuously running in the engine compartment (air pump?) drawing this battery down. Nothing in the car is plugged in at all and she didn't leave the light on whens he came home. Has anyone else experienced this? FYI: I'm a pretty competent shadetree mechanic who runs 97vette.com to help other Vette owners work on their Vettes, but I can't figure out what's going on with my girlfriend's Edge. Hi pat97. :D In addition to the good advice you have already received, I would add this: You mention that the Edge is two years old. If there are less than 36,000 miles on the vehicle, it is still covered under the 3 year/36,000 mile Bumper to Bumper Warranty. That means the battery replacement or any other diagnosis/repairs are covered under Warranty. If necessary, a tow to the Dealership would also be covered under the Ford Complementary Roadside Assistance Program. So if you wish, you can save yourself the money, time and possible headaches by letting Ford/your Dealership diagnose and correct the problem. Just another option to think about. Let us know how you make out. Good luck. :beerchug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat97vette Posted February 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Thanks all. Left it on the charger overnight and couldn't even start it the next day. So, ran out and got a new battery and it's working fine now. For a batter to go bad after 2 years (under 36k) I'm sure it's a bad cell or something going on internally. All that clicking behind the fuse panel had me totally thrown off and confused. If it hadn't done that I would have been a little quicker to act. However, I now have a 2 year old factory battery on the floor of the garage and wondering if I should raise an issue with the local dealer. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Thanks all. Left it on the charger overnight and couldn't even start it the next day. So, ran out and got a new battery and it's working fine now. For a batter to go bad after 2 years (under 36k) I'm sure it's a bad cell or something going on internally. All that clicking behind the fuse panel had me totally thrown off and confused. If it hadn't done that I would have been a little quicker to act. However, I now have a 2 year old factory battery on the floor of the garage and wondering if I should raise an issue with the local dealer. Thanks! It won't hurt to check with the dealer to see if they'll reimburse it. Did you check the fluid level in the old battery? These are not maintenance free and require adding distilled water periodically which I didn't think to do. The clicking is almost always a sure sign of a weak battery - it's the starter relay clicking on and off trying to engage the starter but failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlysir Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) Thanks all. Left it on the charger overnight and couldn't even start it the next day. So, ran out and got a new battery and it's working fine now. For a batter to go bad after 2 years (under 36k) I'm sure it's a bad cell or something going on internally. All that clicking behind the fuse panel had me totally thrown off and confused. If it hadn't done that I would have been a little quicker to act. However, I now have a 2 year old factory battery on the floor of the garage and wondering if I should raise an issue with the local dealer. Thanks! The battery should have been covered under the 36month/36,000 mile warranty. You might try and see if you can get reimbursed for the replacement battery. However, since you have already replaced the battery they may not cooperate. Edited February 7, 2011 by curlysir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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