speedracer33

I finally got the rotors in for the Civic and swapped them on this weekend. However, when I went to start the car I got another surprise. I expected the battery to be stone dead, which is was. However, the surprise is that it wouldn't start even with the jumper box (fully charged).

It turns over a bit, but not the painfully slow turnover you get with an almost dead battery. It's just not enough to start the car. I tried using jumper cables and a spare tractor battery, but that didn't work either. I also hooked up a battery charger to it, and it won't take a charge.

So the question is, is the problem beyond just the battery, or is it simply the fact that a completely stone dead battery can't be jumped? Thoughts?

WRXRacer111

Yes, if the battery sits discharged for a "while" (i have no idea how long it actually is, just that i've let them sit "long enough"), the battery dies beyond repair; you can get it tested at an auto parts store, it'll probably show really low cranking amps on the tester. Don't know exactly what causes it/why it does that, just that it happens and you're generally stuck with replacing the battery.

Todd Reid

hey matt!

really really dead batteries are hard to jumpstart.

you can try using Moby with good thick jumper cables; have a helper rev Moby up to about 2000 to 3000 rpm and hold it there.

at the same time, crank the civic. it'll probably start that way...

todd

rustyhatch

i had a 77 chevy truck with a voltage leak i never found. it would go for weeks without doing it and then do it for a solid week. it would completely drain the battery in as little as 6 hours. dead. flatlined. on a cheap no name battery, it never recovered. on a sears diehard gold battery, i could disconnect the positive terminal hook the jumper cables to it and start it up and it would have it recharged in about an hour. did it many times. it all depends on the battery in my experience.

chevy wiring
diehard batteries

speedracer33

Hmmm, I'm going to order a new one in that case, because regardless of whether there are other problems, if it won't take a charge it's useless. I thought about trying to jump it with the Lude or the Jeep, but I can't jump it with the car nosed into the garage so I would have to push it out. The problem is that my driveway slopes downwards, so if I couldn't start it, I wouldn't be able to push it back in.

Thanks for the advice, I'm feeling more confident that it's just the battery.

FlyZlow

Did you try a deep cycle charge? Before a race weekend, I usually put my battery on a 2 amp charge for 48 hours. If that doesn't charge it, nothing will. If you use the method Todd suggested, it should at least turn over. It will draw the cranking amps from the other battery and you can keep it running on alternator power. However, you can't charge a really drained battery with the alternator because the amperage output is too high. Try a trickle charge and if that doesn't work, it's new battery time.

- Scott