Chrysler Repair: 99 Chrysler LHS will not start, 99 chrysler lhs, chrysler lhs

Question
I have a 99 Chrysler LHS that I have owned for the past 4 years. This thing seems to eat batteries. Over the last month or so, it has been having problems starting. This finally led to the car not starting at all. I have had this problem before, and it turned out to be a bad connection at the battery. Well it has been sitting in my driveway for almost a week so I started working on it last night. I removed the battery, and reworked the battery cables (cleaned them up & stripped them back so fresh copper was connected). I had the battery connected with jumper wires to my van while it was running for about an hour. I reconnected every thing, turned the key, and......click starter is not engaging. So at this point I am completely frustrated. I disconnect the battery again and put one of my boat batteries in place.....click...click...varoom. So I let the car run a little while connected to the boat battery. I then shut it off and immediately try to start it again.....click.....click....not starting again. I am now going through wiring diagrams to try to figure this out. Is it the starter (it sounds fine when it turns), is it the starter relay (I can hear it clicking), is it the fusable link between the alternator and the battery (the jacket on the wire appeared to be melted after I unwrapped the electrical tape from it and put new wire in its place), is the alternator shorting out (it puts out 14+Vdc when it is running).

I am at a loss here. Has anyone ever had this problem with a similar vehicle? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help!!!!

Answer
Hi Rick,
It sounds to me like you have either:
1. a short to ground which is draining the battery when you have the ignition in the run position. I would check the resistance from the +clamp of the battery to ground (with the battery disconnected) when you have ignition off and when you have the ignition on to see what those readings are. Let me know what they show and we can go on from there,
or:
2. the starter motor brushes/commutator are not making reliable connection. You could try tapping on the starter motor body while a helper turns the ignition switch to the start position to see if such 'jarring' will induce it to respond. Also notice the battery voltage when in the start position to see what to what value the drop measures.
Roland