oh well, here it goes. i put a new battery in recently. i've left the lights on a few times and come back and the battery is dead; jumped it, charged it, started fine again. but lately it won't start no matter what. in the last couple days i jumped it, drove around for an hour or more, came back, turned it off, tried to start it, nothing

i thought maybe the alternator, but the battery seems to have plenty of juice. with the engine off, the headlights are bright, the fans are full speed; everything seems to have plenty of power.

when i jump it, it starts right away, very little problem; i thought maybe it needs a new starter, but why it would start so easily with a jump i don't know.

thoughts?

 

To test the charging system (alternator) turn you engine on and put a voltmeter across the battery terminal. The voltmeter should read 13.5v-15v. Turn you headlights on and have some crank the engine over. Your headlights should dim. If the headlights don't dim and it doesn't start, then it means that your starter is not drawing any current. It is possible that the solenoid switch could be bad or there is a bad connection somewhere. If the headlights do dim and the starter doesn't crank, then i think the starter is bad since the starter is drawing current but it is not cranking. Take the battery to autozone and have them do a conductance test on it. This will tell you if your battery is good.

 

Electricity can be a strange breed sometimes and do stuff that don't seem to make much logical sense. Make sure you don't have any corrosion between your post and clamps. The only way to really see is to take the clamps off and look. If you left your lights on enough to drain your battery it is a very good possiblility you have corrosion. Sometimes you can get enough power to run lights but not enough for your starter. The wire to your starter could also be corroded. If it is then it needs to be replaced. Autozone can also check the battery and starter but I think the starter has to be off the vehicle.

 

no the starter does not have to be off the vehicle. if you can get it started you can take your car to autozone and they will check you charging sytem yourbattery and your starter.

 

for free? no kidding. i'll have to do that

 

wasn't too sure about the starter. I have only replaced one and I already knew it was bad and had it off. But yeah they will test for free because they know you will buy one if it is bad. Make sure you get the lifetime alt. or starter if they have it.

 

Ive had this problem before. I would buyt a new battery, cause if you jump the battery to many times, you can fry the cells in the battery. i believe the battery has 13 cells, if one is bad, it wont start, but if you jump it, it will run.
hope it helps.

 

This is what I'm talking about!!! if you have no pwer nothing will happen! but if you have Power (even if ur solenoid is bad) you will hear a clicking sound.If there is no sound or a clicking sound check ur connections.If there is a sound check ur starter connection. It could just be corrosion on the battery terminal or the starter. If this is ruled out then take it to autozone. sometimes moisture or corrosion can inhibit ur starter from working properly. If none of these is the problem check ur igniter mine went bad and it caused starting prob's and then my car died!!!