[Thepher]

It's a 1989 740 turbo.

I replaced the battery with a brand new one, and replaced cable ends where the rust looked like blue cotton candy.

It started perfectly right after I did all that, and took a short drive for groceries. The next day it took a couple of seconds to start in the morning, then was fine all day. But that night it wouldn't start, and hasn't since.

I checked all my cable work, and everything is nice and solid. My battery meter on the dash says 12. Should it be closer to 16?

Any ideas? Things to check?

I'm not sure how to check if I have the correct battery.

Thank you!

 

[sulley007]

There will be recommended specs on the CCA for your car. Make sure you have the correct battery for your make/model.

 

[BHart]

Sounds like your alternator might not be charging the battery.

Easy test; start (or in your case-boost) the car, remove the positive battery connection while it's running and.........
if it dies, the alternator is not supplying power and needs to be fixed.
If it continues to run, there may be something causing a power drain and discharging the battery.

Leave the car parked overnight with the battery disconnected. Pop it back on in the morning and see if it starts normally. New batteries can recover from a discharge overnight.

 

[PowerFanatic!]

From what you've said thus far it sounds to me you need to get your starter motor checked in addition to rechecking your cables.... Corresion is a terrible enemy to cars. I'm sure that since you've just replaced the wiring heads to your battery that they ought to be fine though.

My personal recommedation is to have your starter motor checked. A car has two iginition systems that keep it running. The primary one that gets it started is from what I understand the starter motor. The secondary, which keeps the engine running once its started is the spark plugs+fire distributer.

I was once up with a very good friend whom's a mechanic *been working on Volvos for a long time now* and a lady drove up saying practically the same thing you just listed. My friend didn't hestiate in mentioning the starter motor.

Please let us know how it goes, an I hope its back to running again soon