My 1999 Chevy Blazer had it's battery disconnected on side of freeway and put into a Nissan Maxima that had a bad alternator. Both cars driven 20 miles just like that. The Blazer with no battery actually about 18 miles until it died out.


My battery then taken out of Maxima and put back in Blazer. I needed a jump to start Blazer, but after that drove for about a day just fine.

Now I'm experiencing a no crank no start in Blazer.

I took battery to O'Reilly's auto parts store and they said it was dead.

I then took it to AutoZone as it was bought from Auto zone not too long ago hoping warranty would cover it. It was out of warranty by 6 months, however AutoZone charged it just fine and brought it completely back to life.

Now my battery drains rapidly just from trying to start Blazer a few times.

I now have learned how stupid I was to allow my friend to take my battery out and drive without my battery so please keep that in mind...I am very aware of how stupid I was.

That being said....what do you think happened to my battery from being in the Maxima and to my Blazer from driving 18 miles til dying out with no battery?

I am an ignorant woman when it comes to vehicles. I am very bright and catch on quick though.

I my friend who took battery out keeps telling me it's the fuel pump but you can hear fuel pump run. I think he doesn't want to admit that doing that with the battery may have ruined my vehicle. I have no money and nobody to help me. I am disabled and my vehicle that was just given to me a month prior to this all happening was my livelihood. It's now been a month exactly since this all occurred

 

A no-crank can't be due to a fuel pump. Testing batteries at the parts stores really tells you nothing. The only way to properly test a battery is to slow charge it for 12+ hours - then put a specific load on it (amount depends on battery specs) for a certain amount of time and the voltage at the end needs to be above a spec value. Your battery may or may not be bad. But also you may have damaged your alternator by running it without a battery, as internal voltage could spike quite high if there is no battery attached to absorb spikes. This could be a reason why your Blazer died after 18 miles - the moment your alternator stopped putting out enough to meet the vehicle's needs.

So what to do? Charge the battery and start the vehicle. Read the voltage gauge on your dash. It should be over 13 volts if alternator is working. If not, fix the alternator. If voltage with vehicle running it is above 13V, replace the battery. It is the time of year when they tend to fail and yours is old enough to be out of warranty.

If the vehicle engine still won't turn over after charging the battery or with a jump start, the starter may be bad. Get back to us.

If the vehicle will crank but won't start, get back to us.

 

All it takes to fry the alternator is the positive cable to ground out while running unhooked from the battery. Fries the internals quickly. Hard on vehicle electronics too

 

Every battery has the voltage operation range. A long run or storing the battery below the minimum level triggers the chemical processes, that will damage the battery. If that is a leaded one, it will most likely expand - a vertical sidewall can be deflected around + 1/2". In such a situation, the battery is a junk. It is going to catch a temperature or even a fire while charging. So, first of all, please check if Your battery has sized.
Overcharging the battery isn't good either, but this is not the case. Especially spectacular effects of a bad handling may be observed with LiPol batteries, which are often described "most deadliest batteries".
A side note question - when You were changing the battery, did You swap them between the cars? So the Nissan got the Blazer battery and vice versa? Or You've extracted the battery from Blazer, while the engine was on, leaving the battery clamps freely?

The discharged battery may have sufficient power to run the fuel pump, but cranking the engine is a huge load. Follow what Les says. You may also look for a workshop that will measure the battery charging current and tell if Your alternator is OK. It might happen, that the rectifier inside the alternator got blown, so the battery isn't charging at all while engine runs. The alternator repair shouldn't be anything expensive.

 

I'm sorry that you were given bad advice but don't beat yourself up over what happened, glad you came here for help. Disconnecting a battery while the truck is running causes what's called a load dump which creates a violent electrical event that may damage the alternator or other electronics. ALso as suggested, letting the positive/red battery cable touch any metal would also cause problems. Modern electronics in vehicles (engine computer, etc) are designed to tolerate a load dump without failure but as has been pointed out, the rectifier diodes in the alternator, not so much. You have been given good advice from Les, Mike and others:

Proper battery charge
Proper battery load test if available
Measure voltage with battery installed and truck running
If it won't turn over, battery voltage when you try to start

The gang here can get you back up and running with the lowest cost possible.

George

 

I agree with Les. I would have the alternator checked unless you have a voltmeter capable of measuring DC voltage. The battery is there to start the engine but also to absorb voltage spikes.

 

Oh my goodness...I just seen I said no crank, no start!!!! It should have said CRANK, NO START.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR TIME AND KNOWLEDGE. I TRULY APPRECIATE IT!

It almost sounds as if it wants to start. It actually does start for a minute with starter fluid.

I was not the one who disconnected the battery so I don't know how much the battery clamps we're hanging. We were on a freeway on ramp so it was ripped out of Blazer quickly, put in Nissan and off we drove.

We had went to pick up the nissan. My friend just got it. He was told it would need a battery and so he brought one that he claimed was pretty new. On way home we followed out friend in Nissan and it died about 5-10 after driving home. That's when my battery was ripped out of my Blazer quickly and put in Nissan to get off the freeway on ramp and both cars just ended up driving home and no the Nissan battery was not put in Blazer. The Blazer had no battery at all as i drove the 18 miles towards home i made it until it suddenly just died out.

My friend brought my Blazer battery back to me after making it home, taking it back out of nissan. nissan drained or killed the battery my friend brought when we picked up the nissan. I'm assuming because the alternator in Nissan was bad? I'm sure it damaged my battery just the same, except I believe mine was newer than the one my friend had brought and put in nissan. Mine was barely over a year old. That's why it probably lasted in the Nissan enough to drive it the whole way home.

Any different thoughts now since I corrected my initial post from no craan, no start to CRANK, NO START????

 

Ok I am going to back up here a minute. Has your friend figured out what is wrong the the Nissan? Running a battery with a bad alternator will often kill the battery especially on that has a bad voltage regulator.

Another issue to check are the battery cables clean and tight?

 

That changes a lot
If it cranks but not start, then it doesn't seem to be a battery involved problem, so after all it makes all the Nissan story not so important...
A good point to start is to measure the fuel pressure. Depending on what You find there, we may revert with another steps to perform. In order to make the test, You need a pressure gauge with a hose that connects to the port on the fuel line. The procedure is described into the sticky topic.
By the way, as far, as I remember, a few weeks ago You have mentioned that You believe Your ex put something into Your fuel tank. The engine run for a while and then You couldn't start it. How did that problem solved? Any possibility it could be related to the current situation?
Mike

 

Killed batteries don't crank engines. Neither loose cables