J Gordon

I have a '94 LS, and I hadn't driven my car in 2 weeks because the radiator cracked and I just finished replacing it last night. So I hopped in last night, and the battery was dead. I had my buddy jump it, and it drove fine and restarted 20 minutes later.

This morning I go try and start it. All the lights and gauges come on, but it doesn't even turn over. I tried jumping it again, but it still wouldn't turn over. I still have lights and gauges, but it won't start.
Anyone have any ideas?

94TealGSR

Check fuses. Sounds like a shot in the dark, but my ECU fuse blew last time I had to jump my car. Also, have you tried push starting it? Are your battery terminals secured properly?

maxxdout

could be a # of things. First off if you have a multimeter check the dynamic voltage at the battery itself. By that i mean the available voltage. YOu should be around 12.6V. That is a fully charged battery. Anything below 12.2 i belive is actually a discharged battery and may not supply sufficient amps to start the car.

Also, when you jump a car off its a quick jolt of energy. THis doesnt completely recharge the battery cause the alternator takes over. Granted that after a short drive you should have put enough juice back into the battery but a simple load test at an autoparts store will determine if the conductivity of the battery has been compromised. IF its original then it may be time for a new one but often times if you take itoutof the car and put it at a slow2 amp or 5 amp charge on it and that should restore the battery to a full state of chage.


Good luck.

J Gordon

I could understand the battery being dead, (or not charging) but I tried to jump it again this morning and nothing happened. The battery is about 10 months old, so it should still be good anyway.

Yeah, I checked and my cables are pretty tight on the terminals (I forgot to tighten them once, and couldn't figure out why my car only started sporadically, but I learned my lesson.)

I'll go check my fuses right now.

maxxdout

let us know how fuses go also again, if you have a multimeter check the availabel voltage at the battery. Also check voltage drop through the battery cables. The allowable voltage drop is .5 volts. Anymore and the cables should be replaced. Still sounds to me like a battery problem.

PnX-R

So your saying that you haven't driven your car for about 2 weeks.. It needed a jump start and drove fine. But the next morning it wouldn't crank over. Well, since the last time you fired up your car before having the radiator completley replaced, did you happen to leave the key in the ACC to listen to the radio or turn on the headlights for a small amount of time?.. I'm asking this because if you had let your car sit for two weeks with a discharged battery, it might be sulfating..

So what I would do is do an open circuit voltage test to determine how many volts are in the battery. Next, I would pop the battery on a charger and let it sit for 3 minutes at 40 amps. If by three minutes or less the voltage jumped higher than 15.5v, you've got a sulfated battery.. But if it passes that, I would, if there's less than 12.6v, fully charge the battery and then try cranking it again. If it doesn't crank the engine over, the problem is most likely your battery..


*** Cliff-Notes***
If you let a battery sit discharged, it will begin to sulfate..

exr_pd

check out "how to find the electrical problem" post, i think its a drain.
my teg did that once cuz my current limiter on my deck was toast. as soon as i disconnected it then vroom it started.

J Gordon

Thanks for all the help guys.
I went out to check my fuses, which were fine. I decided to give it another shot at starting, and it started right up. WTF?
There was still a little bit of juice in the battery when I first started it last night. All my gauges and lights came on, and it turned over a couple of times before it died. It's been really cold here lately, and with my car just sitting there, maybe it got unhappy. Hopefully the problem fixed itself, but I have no idea what was wrong.