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Car Help - Won't Start

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
I thought I would gather opinions on issues I am having with my car

1) It won't start
2) When key is in "on" posistion, nothing on dash lights up, no clicking/crank attempts when turning key for ignition either at this point
3) If door in open, I can get a faint door open symbol but goes away after a while
4) The car will start when jumped

Now I was driving and it flat out died. The batt charge indicator on the dash when running was normal but just died

I had replaced the alternator in late Feb this year and those symptoms of it being bad were that the batt charge would go way low as the batt was not recharging (not the case here) so I am fairly confident in the alternator working.

The battery was last replaced in late May of 05 and has about 45k miles on the batt


Would I be correct in thinking the batt is the main culprit? Or should I be looking at something else, like a bad starter? I figure the starter is fine as it starts when jump started,

Also, the temps where this has happened was when it has been ~50deg at night so kind of cold compared to what it is during the day and I believe cold temps are hard on poor batts right?

Thanks for any insight/opinions!
 
Car batteries are only reliable for 4 years. Do not risk getting stranded with an old battery. Years ago, batteries were good for 7 or more years.
 
have you repaired permissions? Wait, what?

I concur, it's battery or alternator.
 
dukebound85 said:
The battery was last replaced in late May of 05 and has about 45k miles on the batt
Click to expand...

Batteries pretty much don't know or care about miles, it's about how old they are - and if you get more than 3-4 years out of a car battery, you've more then gotten your money's worth.

Buy a new battery. They eventually get to the point you can't charge them anymore, and at 5 1/2 years of age, this one is beyond ancient.
 
dukebound85 said:
The battery was last replaced in late May of 05 and has about 45k miles on the batt


Would I be correct in thinking the batt is the main culprit? Or should I be looking at something else, like a bad starter? I figure the starter is fine as it starts when jump started,

Also, the temps where this has happened was when it has been ~50deg at night so kind of cold compared to what it is during the day and I believe cold temps are hard on poor batts right?
Click to expand...

Its probably the battery. Replace it, even if the problem is still there afterwards, you need a new battery.
 
brunetmj said:
I concur that it is the battery . The alternator is relatively new so it is not likely it has gone bad this soon.
Click to expand...

Not always the case. I have replaced multiple alternators that were less than 1 year old.

Plus i would like to point out that if a car just dies when running it points pretty strongly to an alternator.

A bad battery can destroy a good alternator and a bad alternator can destroy a good battery. Also jump starting a car or being jump started can damage an alternator as it has to deal with a voltage spike going backwards threw the system. jump stars can damage the diodes or the voltage regulator.

I would say have everything check. You can get your alternator and battery check for free at an Autozone.
 
iJohnHenry said:
I assume you have checked the posts and cables, for problems there??
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He might as well replace the battery because it probably will die soon anyways if it hasn't already. No sense being stuck in the middle of nowhere because your battery is dead.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
I would say have everything check. You can get your alternator and battery check for free at an Autozone.
Click to expand...

This. If its not the batter or alternator then its possible that ab-normal current is being drawn from somewhere. you haven't installed any type of audio equip or messed w/ the electrical system in anyway recently (apart from the alternator)?
 
RITZFit said:
This. If its not the batter or alternator then its possible that ab-normal current is being drawn from somewhere. you haven't installed any type of audio equip or messed w/ the electrical system in anyway recently (apart from the alternator)?
Click to expand...

Nope, not recently. Last I did of that nature was in 04 with a new stereo

I did have a new distributer put in about a year ago too

I did take it to Walmart and my battery and alternator and cranking system all checked out to be in great shape

I dunno what is going on, possibly just had a low charge last night from leaving door open a while?
 
dukebound85 said:
Nope, not recently. Last I did of that nature was in 04 with a new stereo

I did have a new distributer put in about a year ago too

I did take it to Walmart and my battery and alternator and cranking system all checked out to be in great shape

I dunno what is going on, possibly just had a low charge last night from leaving door open a while?
Click to expand...

If you left the door open all night your battery probably drained, which is hey you needed a jump. the alternator charged the battery while driving. If the battery seems to be dying alot or the battery meter is always on charge that means your battery is probably going bad.
 
dukebound85 said:
Nope, not recently. Last I did of that nature was in 04 with a new stereo

I did have a new distributer put in about a year ago too

I did take it to Walmart and my battery and alternator and cranking system all checked out to be in great shape

I dunno what is going on, possibly just had a low charge last night from leaving door open a while?
Click to expand...

I would not always trust Walmart on the check. Did they just do a voltage check on the alternator or did they also check the diods.

A lot of places will just hook a volt meter up to the battery to check it. Engine off it should put out about 12 volts. Engine on it will put out around 13-14volts.

Either way all things point to electrical.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
I would not always trust Walmart on the check. Did they just do a voltage check on the alternator or did they also check the diods.

A lot of places will just hook a volt meter up to the battery to check it. Engine off it should put out about 12 volts. Engine on it will put out around 13-14volts.

Either way all things point to electrical.
Click to expand...

They had a handheld device that they connected to the batt terminals
1) Checked batt when car off
2) Checked batt when car on
3) Checked alternator at idle
4) Checked alternator at 3krpm with and without load (radio, ac, lights, etc)

Printed out a diagnostic sheet and all specs were fine


windowsblowsass said:
If you left the door open all night your battery probably drained, which is hey you needed a jump. the alternator charged the battery while driving. If the battery seems to be dying alot or the battery meter is always on charge that means your battery is probably going bad.
Click to expand...

I only had the door open about 10 min is the thing though.
 
dukebound85 said:
I am going to go get a new one but this morning, my car had no issue starting up
Click to expand...

Was it warmer this morning (or last night) than it was the night before? Batteries have a harder time in the cold than when it's warmer, and if the battery is close to dead, the temperature can mean the difference between "just enough to get it going" and "pretty much dead".
 
notjustjay said:
Was it warmer this morning (or last night) than it was the night before? Batteries have a harder time in the cold than when it's warmer, and if the battery is close to dead, the temperature can mean the difference between "just enough to get it going" and "pretty much dead".
Click to expand...

Yea, it was about 20deg F cooler last night (~50deg) when I was having issues
 
dukebound85 said:
I am going to go get a new one but this morning, my car had no issue starting up
Click to expand...

Recently drove to a gas station, shut off the engine, filled the tank. My next move was to call a tow truck. It didn't start, chime, beep, light up - nothing. The garage said there was zero juice in the battery. So, how'd I get it started at home and drive it 5 miles??
 
Rodimus Prime said:
Not always the case. I have replaced multiple alternators that were less than 1 year old.

Plus i would like to point out that if a car just dies when running it points pretty strongly to an alternator.

A bad battery can destroy a good alternator and a bad alternator can destroy a good battery. Also jump starting a car or being jump started can damage an alternator as it has to deal with a voltage spike going backwards threw the system. jump stars can damage the diodes or the voltage regulator.

I would say have everything check. You can get your alternator and battery check for free at an Autozone.
Click to expand...
roddie makes a good point here, even if you replaced the battery and the alternator there may still be damage to the voltage regulator which isn't that uncommon of an occurrence I've seen cascading failures like this happen before and replacing one thing at a time and continuing to drive it does not solve the problem it tends to lead to the others pieces in the electrical system going bad in the process. I always have an alternator check and a VR check done before I replace my battery and usually wind up having to buy all 3 rather than having to keep making visits to the auto parts store. also look into replacing your ignition coil as well because that may get damaged in the process as well.
 
^^ very true. It may be worth it to get a second test done somewhere else.

Gregg2 said:
Recently drove to a gas station, shut off the engine, filled the tank. My next move was to call a tow truck. It didn't start, chime, beep, light up - nothing. The garage said there was zero juice in the battery. So, how'd I get it started at home and drive it 5 miles??
Click to expand...

lol, the EXACT same thing happened to me almost a month ago (except I was able to borrow a jump box). My battery was fine all morning until I went for gas in the late afternoon... it died of catastrophic failure in a span of 5min :rolleyes: . what type of battery did you have? I had a deep cycle gel battery which from what I learned, can fail w/ out any major warning...in this case, less than 2 yrs of light use :rolleyes:
 
Ttownbeast said:
roddie makes a good point here, even if you replaced the battery and the alternator there may still be damage to the voltage regulator which isn't that uncommon of an occurrence I've seen cascading failures like this happen before and replacing one thing at a time and continuing to drive it does not solve the problem it tends to lead to the others pieces in the electrical system going bad in the process. I always have an alternator check and a VR check done before I replace my battery and usually wind up having to buy all 3 rather than having to keep making visits to the auto parts store. also look into replacing your ignition coil as well because that may get damaged in the process as well.
Click to expand...


Figure I would point out that the voltage regulators and diods are generally part of the Alternator. If you replace the Alternator those parts are replaced as well.
There is only one part on a car that can produce AC power and anything over 12 volts and that is the alternator so it has those other parts on it.
 
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