jvelos3

iTrader: (2)

OKay basically the battery just suddenly lost power.

I was coming home from the train station and started my car to go home. It started fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Stopped at the video store about 10 miles away and turned off the car. Turned it back on and still started fine nothing wrong. Went to 7/11 and turned off car. Got a lottery ticket and went back to start the car and prematurely let off the starter so I went to start the car again and....it just stopped. Nothing no lights no horn nothing. So I test out the battery by connecting one of the cables of my grounding kit to the positive terminal and NO SPARK. so obviously the battery is dead. I got a jump start and drove home. Lights kinda dim and dimmed when I slowed down or used my turn signals. So i get home turn off the car and try and turn it back on...NOTHING no lights no horn nothing.

Can anyone help me??

Why would the charge of the battery just go away all of a sudden??

Could it be the grounding kit from ebay that I just put in?? My Dad said it might be "grounded"??

Please help me...dont know whats wrong.

jvelos3

iTrader: (2)

can anyone give me any input...anything at all???

Mr Willis

alternator is all i can think of because that's what charges your battery when the car is running. The battery just starts the car, but i am by no means a mechanic. take it to autozone, they can check the charging system for free.

Maxima880

It would be very unusual for a battery to lose all power in a few minutes. I thought my battery was dead recently, yet when I put a meter on it there was 12.4V indicated. Turned out to be one of the two sub cables that plug into the main terminal was corroded - yet acted just like a dead battery. Can you verify a dead battery with a meter? If so do you have a charger? At that point I'd unhook from the car's cables and charge it overnight then see if the charge would hold over 6 -12 hours unhooked from the car.

erty67

iTrader: (104)

take it to an auto parts store and have them test the battery and alternator. Most places will test it for free. I had similar symptoms when my original battery died and when the alternator died(which caused the battery to drain out).

Batxel

iTrader: (1)

From what you have described your alternator is working fine but your battery is either dead or the terminals are badly corroded. You can try cleaning off the terminals and see if that helps. As someone had said previously the main purpose of the battery is to get the car started. After the car is started the alternator can keep the car running on its own (I've tried it my self to see what would happen). Batteries do have the ability to die without warning. Not to mention you started the car several times within 10 minutes.

maxima_million

With the 'Air bag' light flashing, I checked the ECU and it read '55' - no error. I recently took my car to get the battery checked. One shop connected a volt meter and told me that it was showing 12.2 volts and that it was fine. I then took it to another shop and they tested it. They informed me that the battery needed to be replaced. Since the battery was about 5+ years old, I got a new one.

Sure enough, after the battery was replaced, I reset the ECU and it fixed the issue. I guess what I'm saying is just because the battery is showing it holds a charge, it could still be the problem....

jvelos3

iTrader: (2)

okay so a battery can die without warning. Everything points to a dead battery and nothing else but its weird cause it just died.

The battery definitely has no charge left. I took one of my grounding kit wires and tried to make a spark by connecting it to the positive terminal and nothing happened

The alternator is working since the car was kept running for some time, lights etc. without charge in the battery. while running high idle in hopes of recharching the battery I could hear the alternator working.

Ill try cleaning the terminals. If that doesnt work then ill replace the battery.

EDIT: If i do have to get a battery...what kind of battery should I get. I dont know anything about batteryies...never had to replace one. So what should I look for. Do I just go for the cheapest? What size is the battery in the max?

jvelos3

iTrader: (2)

okay...i have narrowed it down to the terminal clamps. The positive terminal clamp was heavily corroded. I have cleaned it and put it back but I think that the problem is in the grounding kit clamp. THis is because I tried connecting one of the grounding kit wires to the positive terminal and there was no spark...this means that the grounding kit is not properly connected to the terminal.

The clamp of the grounding kit is alluminums, so does this present a problem?

Does alluminum touching lead leed to corrosion?