When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I tried to start my car this morning only to find out it didn’t want to turn over. The dash lights were barely on and cranking the car felt weak. I tried to boost the car with another car but after 10 minutes nothing changed.
Some notes I want to put out is that when the car was previously working, I noticed that the ebrake and battery light would sometimes flicker.
Another thing is that I replaced my cluster the day before it died. Not sure if that could be related.
I also put in a new battery around 1.5 months ago.
Would it be my starter? Alternator? Or defective battery?
First get your car started. Jump your battery to another car. Let the other car idle for about 10 minutes. Then try to start your car with the cables still hooked up.
Once the engine starts, disconnect the cables and use a multimeter to test the voltage at your battery. It should be close to 14 volts while the engine is running.
so this morning I tried to jump start it again, waiting 10 minutes did nothing. Luckily my portable battery charger arrived. I charged the battery for around 10-20 minutes to test the voltage. I used my multi meter and tested the battery while it was dead. Voltage went from 11ish and dropped at a steady decline til it reached 10.05. Could it be a bad cell in my new battery?
Originally Posted by Scorpi0
First get your car started. Jump your battery to another car. Let the other car idle for about 10 minutes. Then try to start your car with the cables still hooked up.
Once the engine starts, disconnect the cables and use a multimeter to test the voltage at your battery. It should be close to 14 volts while the engine is running.
so this morning I tried to jump start it again, waiting 10 minutes did nothing. Luckily my portable battery charger arrived. I charged the battery for around 10-20 minutes to test the voltage. I used my multi meter and tested the battery while it was dead. Voltage went from 11ish and dropped at a steady decline til it reached 10.05. Could it be a bad cell in my new battery?
Looks like your battery is toast! Probably has a bad cell like u said.
When the car is running the voltage should be about 14.5, with the car off it should be about 12.5
If it's not 14.5 when running it's probably the alternator.
If it's not 12.5 when off the battery is probably toast, however you could ALSO have some kind of parasitic draw like a failing stereo head unit, or aftermarket electronics plugged in, or a broken brake light switch keeping the brake lights on all the time, or other things like that which are just sucking power off the battery constantly when the car isn't running.
Would a parasitic drain still apply if the battery was removed and tested out of the car? my voltage again was being drain when I tested the battery and it wasn’t plugged in the car.
Originally Posted by cleric670
When the car is running the voltage should be about 14.5, with the car off it should be about 12.5
If it's not 14.5 when running it's probably the alternator.
If it's not 12.5 when off the battery is probably toast, however you could ALSO have some kind of parasitic draw like a failing stereo head unit, or aftermarket electronics plugged in, or a broken brake light switch keeping the brake lights on all the time, or other things like that which are just sucking power off the battery constantly when the car isn't running.
No if the battery is losing charge while completely disconnected then it's probably a bad cell in the battery. Usually they start to gas really bad too and you'll see some buildup and corrosion around either or both of the battery terminals, or it will look a little wet around them.
So I eventually went back to get a new battery which was under warranty. They tested the battery and said it couldn't charge or took too long to get past 35%. I swapped in the new battery and did a few test while the car was running. The battery started the car right up and the alternator was working as the voltage of the battery with the car running was measured at around the 14s. The battery light and brake light has not appeared since.
Alright so I started the car this morning and noticed both brake lights and battery light was on again. It went away after a drive to work. I might test the voltage again and determine whether or not I should change my alternator. Not sure if it’s intermediately failing.
UPDATE : just tested my battery while the battery light is currently on. Voltage is 14.6 so I’m guessing my alternator is working.possibly my cluster is messed up as I resoldered some resistors trying to fix the fuel gauge.
Yeah you should be all good that's a little bit high of voltage but I believe still within spec and if you went to work and came back and the battery was still charged I'm assuming alternator is working and battery is good and not losing power from parasitic drain. If your car does shut off while driving or anything like that definitely replace your alternator, but otherwise your all good!
So the past few days I ran into some additional problems. Oddly when I was driving my headlights were turning on and off as well as I still had the problem with my brake and battery lights flickering. That led me to swap the alternator because I was worried of the car dying and not being able to start. Swapped it out and still have the dash lights on and even worse a new loud static sound that randomly appears throughout my speakers. Could it be the grounding wire on my alternator? I noticed sparks coming from the grounding connector when touches metal. Any thoughts on this problem?
Last edited by humbalum; Mar 18, 2023 at 01:26 PM.
Check any grounds in the engine bay and check fuses to to make sure the static sound could be a bad wire leading to the speaker or the speaker itself might be going out, thats just my thoughts though might give you some preliminary things to check out
