Car won't start, any idea?

[Ns1]

So I left my car sitting for 2 weeks. Now I try to start and I get nothing.

I don't hear any ignition noises, and my lights still work. Any idea?

 

[Raizinman]

Obviously, first guess is your battery is dead.

Do this test:

Put key in ignition and turn to ON:
Turn on headlights. If they don't go on, you likely have a bad battery. Either jump start to move vehicle, charge battery or replace battery.

If the Headlights come on, I would next guess dirty battery terminals or a bad starter. Try and clean the battery terminals and try again.

This should keep you busy for a while.

 

[EightySix Four]

Originally posted by: Raizinman
Obviously, first guess is your battery is dead.

Do this test:

Put key in ignition and turn to ON:
Turn on headlights. If they don't go on, you likely have a bad battery. Either jump start to move vehicle, charge battery or replace battery.

If the Headlights come on, I would next guess dirty battery terminals or a bad starter. Try and clean the battery terminals and try again.

This should keep you busy for a while.

Said the lights still work.

Terminals are dirty or bad starter is right.

 

[LTC8K6]

The battery is probably dead. Lighting the lights is much easier than turning the engine over. Possibly lost a cell.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
The battery is probably dead. Lighting the lights is much easier than turning the engine over. Possibly lost a cell.

I've seen 170amps being drawn just to the starter on startup on small engines like Honda civics. Keeping 2 65w headlight bulbs lit? 11 Amps(double that if you have some super high powered tailights too), so headlights turning on is not at all an indicator that your battery is fine.

I'd do a battery test if you have a multimeter and amp probe. I would personally be surprised if even a small engine started with less than 250/300A while cranking. Larger engines like the turbodiesels in full sized trucks struggle at even 1400A.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
The battery is probably dead. Lighting the lights is much easier than turning the engine over. Possibly lost a cell.

Yep everything can light up when a battery is dead but the car won't start.

 

[mizzou]

always unplug the battery cable "black" when leaving it sitting for more then a week

 

[EightySix Four]

Generally don't you hear clicking when the starter has even a little power though?


BTW OP: How old is the corgi? I have 2 and had one pass away earlier this year. Such great dogs.

 

[brblx]

1) check battery (check the voltage, if nothing else).
2) check to see if starter relay is clicking on.
3) check batt cables (need a multimeter, don't just look at them and say they're fine).
4) if you havn't found a problem yet, it's the starter.

 

[thescreensavers]

remove battery, go to auto store for free test = Profit$$

 

[Ns1]

thanks for replies guys, I'll try to jumpstart it tomorrow.

Corgi is 20 months old now

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: Ns1
thanks for replies guys, I'll try to jumpstart it tomorrow.

Corgi is 20 months old now

Need to put the battery on a charger and see if it holds. Jump starting it will just burn up your alternator trying to charge a completely dead battery.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: exdeath

Originally posted by: Ns1
thanks for replies guys, I'll try to jumpstart it tomorrow.

Corgi is 20 months old now

Need to put the battery on a charger and see if it holds. Jump starting it will just burn up your alternator trying to charge a completely dead battery.

Lights work so not completely dead?

Anyway, I got jumpers so I'll try it out later.

 

[cmf21]

Is it in park?

 

[brblx]

Originally posted by: exdeath

Originally posted by: Ns1
thanks for replies guys, I'll try to jumpstart it tomorrow.

Corgi is 20 months old now

Need to put the battery on a charger and see if it holds. Jump starting it will just burn up your alternator trying to charge a completely dead battery.

burn up your alternator? gimme a break.

yeah, jump starting is bad for the battery. no, it's not going to murder the car if it happens every once in a blue moon. anyone who says having to charge a dead battery will kill an alternator generally doesn't understand how they work- and i've read enough of your posts to know that that's unlikely to be the case for you.

 

[LTC8K6]

No worries about burning up your alternator by doing this once in a while.

The people who burn out their alternators are the ones who do it often because for whatever reason, they keep discharging their battery to where it won't start the car.

If you are worried at all, just leave the jumper cables on for a few minutes before you try to crank your car so the battery gets a bit of a charge first.

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: brblx

Originally posted by: exdeath

Originally posted by: Ns1
thanks for replies guys, I'll try to jumpstart it tomorrow.

Corgi is 20 months old now

Need to put the battery on a charger and see if it holds. Jump starting it will just burn up your alternator trying to charge a completely dead battery.

burn up your alternator? gimme a break.

yeah, jump starting is bad for the battery. no, it's not going to murder the car if it happens every once in a blue moon. anyone who says having to charge a dead battery will kill an alternator generally doesn't understand how they work- and i've read enough of your posts to know that that's unlikely to be the case for you.

Charging a completely dead battery will overload the diodes. The alternator is for keeping the system topped off, not for running at peak output for extended time to charge a completely dead battery AND run the car while the battery is charging.

Generally not a good idea to rely on the alternator to charge a completely dead battery. Yeah you can get away with it but it only takes that one time to be out $200.

Originally posted by: Ns1

Lights work so not completely dead?

Anyway, I got jumpers so I'll try it out later.

Do the lights go completely dead when you turn the key to the start position? There can easily be enough juice to run lights, but nothing else.

 

[Possessed Freak]

No clicks at all? Not even a single? If you get a click then it might be the starter solenoid.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: Possessed Freak
No clicks at all? Not even a single? If you get a click then it might be the starter solenoid.

This happens to my car occasionally.

 

[potato28]

Try putting the key to run and see if you can hear any noises.

 

[BlackTigers]

Alternators do work harder when they have to charge a lower battery, and they do burn up faster.

I killed two of them with my subs. I'd let the battery get too low (alternator at idle couldn't charge it with subs going), and after a while the alternator slowly couldn't put up enough voltage, until it started putting up none.

The battery was fine, but the alt just couldn't keep recharging it from an almost-dead state. It happens.

 

[heymrdj]

Whenever jumping another vehicle, I like to lock the engine to 2000 RPM (similar to the idle control diesels use to drive pumps) to keep the alternator output to approx 135 amps. The truck hardly notices the load of the other battery being placed into the circuit. Similar if i'm starting the vehicle from a near dead situation (such as using it's sound system for tailgating or similar. I also avoid running many other electronics at the same time such as the rear A/C unit (which is all electrical) or the headlamps.