Left key in "on" position - what to expect tonight

[CJ7inNH]

Bone head move of the weekend.
Testing electrical connections (trying to diagnose temp gauges) with my light probe. Had the key in the on position. Maybe one too many cold ones during the process, I called it a night to find in the morning I left the key in the on position.

Dead battery.

What else should I expect to find dead - besides my brain? Ignition coil fried? Gauges toasted?

Wonder why the little idiot chime didn't let me know the key was on when I opened the door - oh yah, no doors.

Thanks.

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

I dont think Cjs have an idiot chime.

I have been doing alot of work to my jeep and have done this like 100 times in the past year. Just charge your battery with a trickle charger so that you dont put a huge strain on your alt.

If you do it frequently you can cause your battery to stop taking a charge and if you do it frequently and just use a jump start to get the jeep started and then let the alt charge it you could cause the alt to go bad. One time shouldnt be an issue.

 

[steve1973]

If you have points, they are toast.

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

If you have points, they are toast.

Op Sig says 85.

 

[steve1973]

I don't see the sig on the I-phone. That's why I prefaced it "if"

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Chg the battery.
Start the Jeep-

LG

 

[CJ7inNH]

Thanks for the quick responses. The anticipation sitting at work was killing me.

Took a while on a charger, but she fired up.
Let it run for a few minutes, off, sit a few minutes, fired up.
Sat for about an hour, dead. Charged, started, 5 min drive around, off, sit, fired.
Sat for an hour. Dead.

Battery is 3 years old. Doesn't see any abuse (other than the battery charger for an hour), so I'm surprised it seems to have been killed by this. Just a cheapo no name from Sears.

Looks like I'm buying a battery.

Thanks.

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

Thanks for the quick responses. The anticipation sitting at work was killing me.

Took a while on a charger, but she fired up.
Let it run for a few minutes, off, sit a few minutes, fired up.
Sat for about an hour, dead. Charged, started, 5 min drive around, off, sit, fired.
Sat for an hour. Dead.

Battery is 3 years old. Doesn't see any abuse (other than the battery charger for an hour), so I'm surprised it seems to have been killed by this. Just a cheapo no name from Sears.

Looks like I'm buying a battery.

Thanks.

Sears Will probably prorate it for you.

 

[PaRenegade]

I don't think is such a big deal anymore like it was in the days of ignition points. Computers are most likely designed to eliminate any harm, course you had only the 3rd year for computers in a Jeep.

 

[CJ7inNH]

And more...

Didn't do a thing after the battery was dead last night.

Decided to give a quick check with the volt meter this morning. Reading was 12.4. Turned the key, little hesitation, then fired up.

Maybe the battery just needed a little sleep time

Brings up another interesting one, when I turn the key to the on position the gage always reads around 10 volts, running it jumps up to 14.

With the key on, and gage reading 10, the volt meter on the battery says 12.4 - possible that the gage is off, or is there a drain of power from between the battery and the gage?

I'm going to start some of those team rush upgrades this weekend.

 

[Torxhead]

I think you should get a load test done to that battery to see if you did any damage to it.

 

[Neuner]

I think you should get a load test done to that battery to see if you did any damage to it.

^x2!

I've had a couple of batteries that didn't show failure until they underwent a 45min load test. They were then prorated for a new one.

My electric fuel pump kicks on in that position. I left it in the on position one morning and it helped me find a weak point in my fuel line which sprayed gas all over the engine bay and the garage floor. The sound of the fuel pump is now my 'idiot chime'.

 

[jdcaples]

Sears - at least in my area - will perform a pretty comprehensive battery test at no cost.

I brought a 6 month old battery back for a test and even though it tested fine, I walked out with a new one - also at no cost - all because I mentioned I had some trust issues.

-Jon

 

[CJ7inNH]

Just wanted to close the loop on this one.

I finally made it over to Sears to have it tested. Tested fine, no issues.

Since the initial falure there have been no problems. All good.

Thanks for the help.

*Now to figure out why the plug wires I ordered to do the Team Rush upgrade seem completely different, but that's for another post.