So here is my dilema;
Day 1: worked beautifully, no problems, came home form work, parked it, went inside.
Day 2: Went to start the car, got the door chime, seatgelt chimes, etc etc, but when I turned it over fully to start, all I got was what sounds like the 'tick' of the starter not having enough juice to turn over. I pulled the girlfriends car up to mine, attached the jumper cables, waited a second, and it started no problem, with half a key turn. I thought nothing of it, and went to work.
When I got to work, I turned the car off, and thought to see if the battery had charged enough on my ride to work. Turned the key, and I got all the chimes and the 'ticking' again. No start.
I got my dad to jump it righ then and there, and it started. The turned it off to go in to work.
Finished work, dad had to jump me again to get it going (all the same symptons). Went home.
Day 3: Wouldn't start, same symptons. Hooked up the girlfriends car again, wouldn't start at all, even after charging it with the girlfriends car like in Day 2. And that's where I am left. Car dead on the curb in front of the house.
I tried starting it a few times since then, like i said, blowers/chimes all work, and all i got was ticking. But after trying a few times, the ticking gradually began to slow down, until it ticked no more, and the dome light is really dim.
IDEAS:
1. The plates in the battery collapsed
2. the battery just died (but would that work if it started with half a key turn the day before?)
3. the alternator (but that wouldn't explain it not starting even while being jumped)
4. The starter not getting enough juice, maybe due to connections being dirty?
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
Old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a @!#$!
Well Knight Rider my guess is youre battery is no good, I would also look into youre alternator as well, If its not allow the battery to be charged they may be on it way of wearing out as well. Usually the common thind that happens is youre the electronics inside youre alternator fails in which causes youre battery to be grounded, In which keeps the current to drain and kills youre battery. The way to test youre alternator is to get youre hands a digital multi meter tester, It will show you how many volts is running in youre charging system. Usually youre volts on a fully charged battery 12.5 Volts, With the engine running 13-14.8 volts.
Good Luck
keep us updated.
I have a digital Multimeter, and would love to run the test, thing is, I still ahve to get the car started to see if its the alternator or not
Old enough to know better, but young enough to not give a @!#$!
I would first clean both battery terminals and the connection that the ground wire makes at the block. Should the problem continue I would test the alternator by boosting/starting your car ( with no accesories running - i.e. lights, radio, wipers, heater)then disconnect the negative battery terminal on the battery. Should your motor quit right away the alternator is bad.
Signs that the alternator is bad - the battery light on the dash would be on continuously then the gauges slowly go out and then the car would begin to rev very high as I experience last summer when my alternator went. As a general rule of thumb, a battery usually dies first. Your alternator probably has a couple of years of life left but do the test to be sure.
Sounds like a classic battery death to me. It's normal that your chimes and blowers will still work even if your battery won't start your car. It takes much more power to engage and run the starter than to run the blower. Check your battery cable connections and if they're ok it's probably the battery.
You can't outrun the radio.
