Need advice...The Dealership says its the battery...hmmm

Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.

My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and
between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership the
van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall. No
power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine
compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly
came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of
course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find
nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed the
strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had
little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come
from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way, the
buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad
fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I am
not sure that is the full problem.
Thanks for any advice.


--
My other computer is a Mac.

"loeps" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and
> between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership
> the
> van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall.
> No
> power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine
> compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly
> came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of
> course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find
> nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed
> the
> strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had
> little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come
> from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way,
> the
> buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad
> fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I
> am
> not sure that is the full problem.
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> --
> My other computer is a Mac.
>
It's very possible the buzzing is caused by the battery. Low battery voltage
can cause the relays in the power dist. center under the hood to buzz like a
bumble bee.

Denny

"loeps" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and
> between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership
> the
> van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall.
> No
> power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine
> compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly
> came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of
> course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find
> nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed
> the
> strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had
> little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come
> from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way,
> the
> buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad
> fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I
> am
> not sure that is the full problem.
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> --
> My other computer is a Mac.
>
It's very possible the buzzing is caused by the battery. Low battery voltage
can cause the relays in the power dist. center under the hood to buzz like a
bumble bee.

Denny

loeps wrote:
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> ...When I pooped the hood by the way...

No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to
poop the hood! 8^)

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

loeps wrote:
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> ...When I pooped the hood by the way...

No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to
poop the hood! 8^)

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
adddress with the letter 'x')

loeps wrote:
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago,
and
> between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the
dealership the
> van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the
mall. No
> power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine
> compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights
suddenly
> came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and
of
> course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could
find
> nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I
noticed the
> strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it
had
> little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to
come
> from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the
way, the
> buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a
bad
> fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing,
but I am
> not sure that is the full problem.
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> --
> My other computer is a Mac.

I would suggest trying to charge the battery, and then doing a load
test on it. You may find that it either will not hold a charge, or will
drain quickly when put under load. Since your van is a 1996, I would
imagine that the battery had been replaced at least once. If the
battery is original, then you have got your money's worth from it.

Once you know that the battery is good, then you can check connections
as needed.

-Kirk Matheson

loeps wrote:
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago,
and
> between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the
dealership the
> van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the
mall. No
> power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine
> compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights
suddenly
> came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and
of
> course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could
find
> nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I
noticed the
> strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it
had
> little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to
come
> from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the
way, the
> buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a
bad
> fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing,
but I am
> not sure that is the full problem.
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> --
> My other computer is a Mac.

I would suggest trying to charge the battery, and then doing a load
test on it. You may find that it either will not hold a charge, or will
drain quickly when put under load. Since your van is a 1996, I would
imagine that the battery had been replaced at least once. If the
battery is original, then you have got your money's worth from it.

Once you know that the battery is good, then you can check connections
as needed.

-Kirk Matheson

Bill Putney wrote:

>loeps wrote:
>> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>> ...When I pooped the hood by the way...
>
>No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to
>poop the hood! 8^)

Yes, . . . . . as Mr. Bill says, "it's 100% better NOT to poop the
hood in anger."


God Bless,
Dan'L

("If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third
hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're
around.")

Bill Putney wrote:

>loeps wrote:
>> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>> ...When I pooped the hood by the way...
>
>No matter how mad you get at your car, you should avoid the tempation to
>poop the hood! 8^)

Yes, . . . . . as Mr. Bill says, "it's 100% better NOT to poop the
hood in anger."


God Bless,
Dan'L

("If I'm going to reach out to the the Democrats then I need a third
hand.There's no way I'm letting go of my wallet or my gun while they're
around.")

Yes a battery could very well cause that, so can a loose connection at the
battery, keep in mind that when the technician got the car, all the
information may have been erased by the bad batetry/connection therefore he
would see no fault codes, have a load test done on it and check the cables
Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech
"loeps" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> My 96 Dodge Caravan check engine light came on a couple of days ago, and
> between the time of the light coming on and taking it to the dealership
the
> van would not start one evening after the wife had taken it to the mall.
No
> power, nothing. Just a wierd buzzing coming from the engine
> compartment.While waiting for me to show up, the interior lights suddenly
> came on, so she tried to start it. Low and behold, it started, and of
> course, the check engine light disappeared. The dealership could find
> nothing wrong, of course. This morning it was dead again, and I noticed
the
> strange buzzing was from the fusebox. Battery was in bad shape, it had
> little or no power. Now, would a bad battey cause a buzzing sound to come
> from the engine compartment fusebox? When I pooped the hood by the way,
the
> buzing stopped. Resumed when I slammed the hood down. Sounds like a bad
> fuse/relay/connection to me. I agree the battery needs replacing, but I
am
> not sure that is the full problem.
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> --
> My other computer is a Mac.
>
>