interstate MT-34

[Denisk]

dead battery after one year: interstate MT-34

Howdy folks! My one year old battery (Interstate mt-34) is suddenly dead. Two questions: how do i charge it (amp/voltage)? Is this a deep cycle batt?
Second question (third, soorry): would a failed cd-changer on my 2001 d2 SE could be the cause? I cant put a finger on what else could have gone bad with the truck, except that in the last two days the cartridge from the stock cd changer would not come out and it would read no magazine on the head unit.... ?? Thanks to all in advance.
Cheers

 

[Denisk]

to add insult to the injury, i've broken a tiny waterline (overflow?) going from the coolant tank to the radiator, and its tiny, must be 4-5 milimiter thick. I guess it mus have happened l;ast nite when i was hurriedly unscrewing the dead battery. Well, this am the battery was charged great, i drove off to work only to notice strange beating sounds in the passenger side, and only afterwords noticed the overheating red led on the dash... ouch. when it rains it pours. and it all started with a failed CD changer? btw, the battery disconnect did not cure the changer--still says the same thing, "disk error"....

 

[Asolo3j]

On my D1 the CD changer did the same thing. I disconnected the power supply to the CD changer itself to try and let it reset itself... no luck. I then took out the CD changer from under the drivers seat (4 philips screws holding it in). With power to the CD changer I could not get the disc magazine out. Unscrewed the cover to find that the CD had not fully ejected back in to the magazine. Once the stuck CD was removed, all has been just fine. Cleaned out some dust bunnies while I had the CD changer open. Not sure if related to your dead battery, but it may help you with your CD changer.

Battery- Check your alternator? Multimeter it and see if putting out enough juice. Did your tach go crazy (jumps up and down without change in engine speed) before your battery died?

 

[Denisk]

thank you, brother. i do have a simple multi meter handy. help me understand this: since its a 130amp alternator what should i be looking to expect for it to read? should i take measurments during cranking as well, or just running would do?

will try to follow your footsteps with the cd player...

 

[ptschram]

put the meter on the volts scale. Red probe on the terminal with a cross-looking thinge on it, the black probe on the terminal with a bar on it. With the engine running, you should see a minimum of 13.5 volts at idle, increasing as you increase engine speed.

PT

 

[Denisk]

thank you to both of you. i did not notice the tach go crazy or anything unusual... the batt was dead again when i got home tonite--second time around, this time i left the cd changer disconnected altogether for the day, so cant blame it at all after al. i would have blamed the batt itself no question if only i would have not replaced it in march 2005, so its fairly new. i did notice that it looked a bit dirtier than it should have been, as if it was boiling at some point, and spit some out. interstate batteries: is the quality consistently good? need to recharge and multimeter the darn alternator. dark current nightmares are next, and i have no extra equipment, all stock....

 

[Denisk]

well, an update: been charging the battery (interstate-mt34) another round... and it would not hold charge at all! question: what could cause a one and a half year old battery to go bad? i suspect overcharging while on the truck. possible or no?

 

[Asolo3j]

If it wont hold a charge, then I would say it's a bad battery. Usually those things have a couple year warranty on it. Take it back and let them know what you have been doing to diagnose. If they wont replace for free, buy a new one. $80 for the new one to figure out whats going on is cheaper than buying a $300 alternator.

 

[Denisk]

thahk you folks--it did turn out to be a sick battery--got it re[laced under warranty, went bad after 1.5 years only...

 

[jamsandwich]

asolo hit the nail on the head with the cd changer. If its loose under the seat, or even if its bolted down i guess, any severe shocks to the changer while the cd is moving from the cartridge to the player will cause it to jam and not work. your cd is probably toast (mine was) but some careful dismantling and removing the cds will have it working again