Is There A bomb Under My Hood??? tick, tick, tick...

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big al - 12 Mar 2006 15:10 GMT

Went to start our '91 F Festiva this morning and - nothing. Dead
battery. I noticed the dome light was very weak, and of course no
headlights. However before I disconnected the neg. battery cable in
order to connect the battery charger I noticed a definite and steady
clicking sound coming from somewhere around the passenger side of the
engine compartment but can't pinpoint where it's coming from.

Here's the weird part. This noise disappears when the driver's door
is open, and if I turn on the dome light to the stay 'on' position and
then shut the door or even partially engage the door to be shut, the
ticking sound stops. If i turn the dome light back to where it shuts
off when the door is shut, the ticking resumes.

At this point I tested the battery and it has a little over 9 volts,
so currently I have the charger on it. Meantime, does this action
sound familiar to anyone?

tks, al

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Andrew Rossmann - 12 Mar 2006 15:28 GMT

> Went to start our '91 F Festiva this morning and - nothing. Dead
> battery. I noticed the dome light was very weak, and of course no
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> so currently I have the charger on it. Meantime, does this action
> sound familiar to anyone?

Most likely a relay or solenoid that is trying to engage, but there
isn't enough power. Turning on the light reduces the voltage enough to
prevent it from even trying.

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Sharky - 12 Mar 2006 15:33 GMT

What you are describing sounds like the door ajar mechanism that activates
when you have your key in the ignition and open the door. You get that
"bing .. bing .. bing" chime. But because the battery is so dead in the
car, you're hearing a tick, tick, tick noise instead. Personally, I don't
think this noise is related to your problem with the dead battery.

> Here's the weird part. This noise disappears when the driver's door
> is open, and if I turn on the dome light to the stay 'on' position and
> then shut the door or even partially engage the door to be shut, the
> ticking sound stops. If i turn the dome light back to where it shuts
> off when the door is shut, the ticking resumes.

So you are manually turning the dome light on? It doesn't stay on otherwise
when the door is closed? The reason I say that is because the dome light
sticking is one thing that will drain the battery if left on overnight.
Another thing, if that chime happened to be sticking while the door was
closed (I'm not quite sure how it operates, so I don't even know if that is
possible), it may drain the battery also.

Just a few possibilities to explore.
Good luck,

Sharky

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JohanB - 12 Mar 2006 18:05 GMT

Any relay under dash or hood can start to click because of empty battery.

the lack of voltage will make it activate /deactivate because of the voltage
drop when activated

> Went to start our '91 F Festiva this morning and - nothing. Dead
> battery. I noticed the dome light was very weak, and of course no
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> tks, al

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Backyard Mechanic - 12 Mar 2006 19:40 GMT

All esp Johan are right.

UNLESS you know the 'clicking' was happening BEFORE you opened the door
or turned on anything electrical, it doesnt mean much, symptom-wise.

Get a test light, make sure all lighting is out and all delay circuits
expired then disconnect charged battery and see if lite glows when held
between batt terminal and its connector

> Any relay under dash or hood can start to click because of empty
> battery.
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>>
>> tks, al

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ShoeSaleman - 12 Mar 2006 21:18 GMT

> Went to start our '91 F Festiva this morning and - nothing. Dead
> battery. I noticed the dome light was very weak, and of course no
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> tks, al

It must be a bomb!!!!! push the car out of the garage then run like
hell!!!!!

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big al - 13 Mar 2006 07:12 GMT

> Went to start our '91 F Festiva this morning and - nothing. Dead
> battery.

Thanks to all for the advice and help. Wife thinks now she left the
parking lights on yesterday afternoon when she got home. It had been
raining and overcast. I charged the battery up, cleaned the terminals
and posts. Battery's hanging in at 12.4.

tks, al

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