V8 battery died

["Dave Ross" <dross@jacobldrs.com>]

Without much warning the battery in my '90 V8 my battery died last
Sunday (3/9). During the preceding few days I noticed that the starter
would slow down a bit if the engine did not start immediately. On Sunday
evening I was out on an errand, turned off the motor, and could not
start it 5 minutes later. The engine turned over once (slowly), then
stopped and a nasty electronic "chittering" noise erupted.

Heavy of heart, I called AAA and waited an hour for the truck to arrive.
I described the symptoms to the driver (company owner, of course, on a
Sunday evening), who said... "Yep. Dead battery." He attached jumper
cables to the appropriate contacts in the engine bay and the car started
immediately. I drove it directly to Carlsen and dropped it off with a
note and a prayer.

Carslen still has the car. They put in a new battery ($200 and watch out
for the upholstery), but now the car won't start when cold and runs very
roughly 'til warm. They've tried in vain for several days to identify
the problem. This is not a problem I had before the battery died (did
the battery die or was it something else?). Is this one of H. Powell's
coincidences, or is there a causal relationship?

Any ideas?

Dave Ross
sick '90 V8