Thread: 2004 Grand Prix Charging issues

3.8 L non-supercharged
Recently my car has had issues turning ON.
I only hear the clicks it makes when battery is LOW. So I jump start it and starts fine. I?ve replaced the alternator and it still doing it, Battery is a year-ish old. I?m still getting 12 volts on the meter.
Terminals are clean. Fuses are ok.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Keep the meter on it and have someone try and start it. Note what the meter reads. Could have a bad battery.

Are the gounds clean? Check the one at the transmission bellhousing as well. Cables tight?

So I checked two ground wires coming from the transmission, almost right in front of the driver side radiator fan. Cleaned them both. But noticed something.
I charged the battery to about 13.84 volts and about 10 minutes later it went down to 11.83 Volts.
But after the 3rd crank the engine started normal and was getting a reading of 14.98 volts exactly while ON.
So now I have the terminals disconected and waiting to see the final reading on my multimeter.
I know I?m suppose to have 12vokts at least

Yeah, I?m getting a constant/steady 10.83volts on my battery with the meter.
Even after I turned it OFF after I jumped started it.

That's really low for a resting charge, almost dead. Would likely not start it. I would find a way to slow charge it (3amp until full) and then stick it back in and see what you get. If it starts without a jump, then keep an eye on it and see if it drops again. If it does, then you either have a bad battery or a parasitic draw in the system somewhere.

The EEC and stereo memory voltages are not enough to draw a healthy battery to 10V overnight. There are how-to videos explaining how to check for parasitic draw using a meter between the battery cables and the charging system.