I inherited my father’s 1994 Chevy P/U 3 years ago. He got sick right after he purchased it, so it has only 34,000 miles. I have 2 questions: (1) This weekend I tried to start it and…nothing. I knew the battery was good as I just charged it last week. It did nothing for 3 trys, then on the 4th, it clicked a time or two. The next try it dragged a little bit. The next time it cranked. Any ideas as to what is going on? (2)Does the oil break down after a period of time? I have put on less than 1,000 miles since I got it. (I changed the oil when then.) Any help will be appreciated.
One area to check is the positive battery terminal. This has the side mount type battery terminals. And under the red rubber cover of the positive terminal corrosion can form causing a voltage drop across the electrical system. Remove the battery terminals and peel back the red rubber cover of the positive terminal. If a greenish/white powder is found under this cover, that’s probably what’s causing the problem. You can try cleaning this corrosion from the terminal to get a good connection again. But if it’s severe, it’s better just to replace the entire positive battery cable.
Tester
Thanks Tester, I’ll try that as soon as I get home.