PB will not start/run on battery

Hey everyone,
I posted this on the power & batteries forum, but judging by the dates on the replies to other threads it seems like a VERY slow forum. So here goes...
Just got a Powerbook G4 17", 1.67 ghz 2gigs ram but I have a problem.
It will not start-up from the battery. The battery takes a charge & all the lights turn green when I press the test button. When I try to start I can hear the fans run, LOUDLY, but that's it.
However, if I use the power cord it works perfectly, with one exception. The date is reset to 1969.
I ran the hardware test, using the OS discs and everything passed.
I reset the PMU, but that didn't help. Does this mean that there is an internal battery that needs to be replaced? The manual implies that the internal battery is rechargeable, so I'm a bit confused.
Any help or info is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

Yeah, weekends tend to be slow. Good time for beer drinking, right!?
Your symptoms sound similar to my 1G 17" PowerBook I was given earlier this year. Once charged, the battery will last about 30-45 minutes, drop to zero, then recharge to 100 percent WAY too fast. I had a guy at an Apple Store look at it and he said that its failing at a specific power level each time while showing "good" health" is indicative of a bad cell in the battery. Mine was five years old so he advice was to get a new one.
There is indeed an internal backup battery that is rechargeable. It's located under the optical drive and one of the USB ports is attached to it. Mine was dead when I got the computer but managed to take a charge after I left the computer plugged into the wall for several days with power off. Rechargeable batteries do have a finite life, and the backup in the PB does not have enough power to start the computer even when new.
Pull the battery and let the internal backup charge from wall power for several days and don't use the computer. Then put the main battery back and see if you can get the normal sleep behavior that gives you time to reconnect AC power when the battery dies.
Also make sure your charger is the 65W version. Mine came with a 45W version from a smaller PB and will not start without the main battery installed, even in its current sorry state.

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