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Okay... I've hit an oddness that I've never encountered before on any vehicle I've ever had and neither has any of the people that I've called about this in the last couple of days. I'm looking for any help from you LUV lovers out there... I'm completely at a loss of what to check, do, try, replace or adjust.

Bright and early FRI morning, I went out to my wonderful little truck, put in the key and engine turned over.... well, tried anyway. (I have had zero problems with her since she and I came to an expensive understanding a couple of months ago.) I put the parking brake on when I park her, but I don't leave her in gear. Apparently, the night before when I got out after she was shut down, I must have knocked her into first when grabbing my coat, etc. SO... FRI morning, parking brake released, foot on brake, key in ignition... she lunged forward twice and died. ... and rightfully so. I turned off the key, took her OUT of gear and then turned the key once more to encounter... nothing. I mean absolutely nothing ... ... no dash lights, no headlights, no blinkers, no hazards, no "click" sound for the starter.... NOTHING. I can't seem to find anything that has broken loose or fuses blown or bad connections. I am completely stumped....

Any advice, wonderments or clues... PLEASE respond as quick as you please. She's my only transportation.

might whant to check the voltage on the battery. That may have put too much of a load on the batt. and it may have just died.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I've often told my friends that ice cream or mash potatoes fix many a woe in Life, depending on the season .

I may have encountered the problem me. Exhasperated, I sat down for dinner with family and friends to help settle me, my tummy and my frustration and while we were all sitting around and bantering, a friend of mine glanced out the window and said, "Uhhh.... your truck is blinking." I jumped up and then rushed out to find, sure enough that the left blinker had come to Life. Yay! Then checked the right blinker and then hazards and then much too soon in my excitement I put in the key and the dash lights came on and the engine said "Rrrr" .... once.... then the silence resumed.

I opened the hood and rapidly concluded it would be a good idea if I actually clipped the distributor back into place and replaced the coil wire from when I was checking the rotor and points. *sigh* ... and then on a hunch, I checked the battery cells..... and I have added about a liter of water to the battery. I'm going to ask for a jump before my friends leave later tonight .... I'll be back if that doesn't fix 'er up!

Thanks for your time everybody !

good to hear it man. Ah another luv back on the road... i think angles get thier wings when that happens

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

I've seen a poor connection at the battery cause stuff like that to happen. The battery connectors get a layer of gunk on them and will appear to work, until a load is applied, then they go dead. Pull both connectors, clean the inside or even just scrape it up a bit, and clean the posts on the battery. Put them back on and retighten. If the problem keeps up at least you've eliminated another thing.

I once had a battery get an internal short from getting banged around a bit too. It acted like it was ok enough to power stuff like the dome light, lights on the radio, but as soon as you hit the starter everything would go dead for a good five minutes. It had enough juice for a push start, but anytime I turned on anything big like headlights the motor would die off for a sec. Could be your battery shifted around during the starter accident and is now part of the problem. A battery shop should be able to do a load test on the battery and tell you if it is ok or not though. Some places will even do it for free.

I was just wondering what kind of water did you put into your battery?

"kind" of water, JSC? Uh... the wet kind? ... bottled? (who knows what is getting pumped through a household faucet these days )... what are you specifically asking?

I believe John is refering to using "distilled" water, are you not? Or a purified, cleaned water right?

Ive always known to put distilled water in a battery, but what for. isnt it so there arent any minerals to screw up things in the battery?

I thought filling your battery went out with 6 volt and just about everything you get these days was maintenance free. Last few bats I've bought have been gel filled though so I guess I'm a little out of touch. I love my gel cells, ran the truck for a week before I realized the alternator had completely died, and I run headlights on day or night most of the time.

Yea,77luv i believe your right.If you do have a battery that requires regular maintenance there should be a little sticker on the battery that will tell you to USE DISTILED WATER ONLY.It dosent tell you if you dont that everything under your hood well start to grow with corrosion.In my webster....corrode (To eat away by degrees... by chemical action...to RUST). Those little minerals in that tap water can reek havik!!!...

800xl- you must have better luck with those Jello batteries than i had. I bought the optima sealed Jello battery and the thing would not hold a charge. Traded it in on its 2 year warranty for another, same thing. Three weeks ago I bought a standard battery and threw that Jello box in the landfill.

The idea seems good. I just had a bad experience with two batteries. You never know, some kid at the factory could have screwed up a batch of them. Its too bad- cause I wanted one of those real bad.

yes... it was bottled, distilled water What did I win?

You win no rust!

Scooter... Did that fix the problem?

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.