Electrical Help

Hi All,

I just receive a used Chevy G-Van. I'm not sure if it is a G-10, 20 or 30. The Mauel just says G-Van. It has a bad battery or electrical short. Can someone help me. The drivers window is electric and will not let down. The power locks will lock the doors but will not unlock them. The battery was dry so I put distilled water in it and let it run for an hour and then took it for a drive. I turned it of and the van will not start again. I have to jump it to get it started. After turning the van off, the lights go dim and the radio starts to go out if the lights are on at the same time. Again after I turned the van off, If I put the head lights on the radio goes out and the lights dim. Now I'll have to jump start it again because everything is dead. Is there a electrical problem or should I buy a new battery.

First, I'd go ahead a buy a new battery. If you were driving the vehicle for an hour or so it should at least hold a little charge ... enough for headlights and a radio anyway. I'd try a new battery first. BUT ... I wouldn't leave it connected until I was sure the rest of the electrical system were OK.

Connect it up and start checking for arcing, or smoke from overheating wire insulation etc. I'd probably take out the fuses and install them one at a time ... isolating the suspected bad systems and then go from there. Good luck!

What year Van? Ya sure replace the battery as a first step, anytime a battery gets dry there's a chance that a cell can short or can become resistive and refuse to charge.
What does the battery voltage meter read? When the engine is stopped and with no lights, radio, heater or other accesories on, the voltage should be around 12V (actually 12.6) with the engine running the voltage should read between 14 and 15 volts (13.9 -14.7 or so). My bet is that your alternator has failed, causing you to run on the battery and discharging it to the point where the battery was distroyed.
When you get the new battery installed, check the charging voltage and see if it's correct. If it's to high (15-16 or higher) it will quickly damage the new battery so shut it down. if its less than 13 volts it's to low and will not charge the new battery. In either case you will probably have to replace the alternator.
When you get the electrical system working we can investigate the other things. When the battery won't deliver current all sorts of things can happen. Let us know
see ya
94

[snip]
My bet is that your alternator has failed, causing you to run on the battery and discharging it to the point where the battery was distroyed.
94

It depends on how bright/dim the lights were getting. If the voltage is correct when the van is running, then drops off after turning the engine off, the alternator is probably OK. If the new battery discharges (the old one may have been too far gone - I had one of these years ago) then there is a short somewhere that is discharging the battery (the alternators will supply a high current so it isn't noticed while the engine is running). I had an older van some years ago that had a short that would discharge the battery within an hour of shutting it off. I finally found that the power seat switch had stuck on and the motor had been trying to run for weeks. It wasn't a dead short (drew 8-10 amps) and magically the motor didn't burn up.

If the new battery doesn't help we can try some more stuff.