I tried to start my car after a short trip to the mall and when I tried to restart it after I got home all the electrical power in the car dies. Is this the immobilization feature of the car and somehow it forgot the key's code? I unplugged the battery for a short time then replugged it back in and turned the ignition key to the first position and all the electrical parts work. But as soon as I turn the ignition to start all the electrical parts stop working (acts like a totally dead battery) unless I unplug the battery or let the car sit for 20 minutes. I had the battery tested at autozone and it passed all the tests. Any ideas?? Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

I had that happen to me before with my former 92 SE. It turned out to be the battery. It could not supply the amperage required to operate the starter. Did AutoZone do a load test on the battery? If they did not apply a sufficient load to the battery, it may show as passing when it would normally fail under a larger load.

 

I assume he did a load test. He hooked it up to this machine and it took like a minute to go thru the tests. All passed and he said it supplied the correct amps. Just bought this new battery this summer so I didnt think it would go bad this quick.

I also tried jump starting it with my dad's car and I got the same thing since I also though it was a dead battery.

No matter what I try to power the car up I get the same thing :-( I checked a bunch of the main and starter fuses as well and they look OK.

 

SAME EXACT problem happened to me. I also have a 2000 max, and the same thing happend. All electrical would work but once i turned the key to start it, everything stopped even the odometer. I was told it was my batter got a new batter it happend again, i was ****ed, so i started playing with the terminal leads on the batter and it turned out to be a loose batter terminal, i cleaned it and twisted it on the otherside of the battery connection, and have never had the problem again. Hope this helps. BTW, to test for your alternator whether its bad or not, just look on the site on like the second page theres a thread about it right now, but i doubt its ur alternator.

 

Have you checked your terminals thoroughly?

 

If that is the case, you may have corrosion within your battery cables or dirty connections between the battery terminals and posts. If there is corrosion inside the cable, the current will not flow to the starter when you need it. Even if you try to jump start the car. Corrosion causes resistance to flow.

 

thanks for the help. i cleaned the terminals even though they didnt look very dirty to me with some baking soda and tightened everything back down and it started. The positive terminal doesnt really tighten down as well as the ground terminal. Is there any easy way to replace it or add a shim to make the terminal a bit larger?

Thanks

 

If you wanted to replace the terminal end itself, you might not be able to find it without the whole cable assembly. You could try a battery post shim. I have never used one before but it may be worth a try. If it doesn't tighten down with a new battery post, it may be cracked. You could check with Carquest or your local auto parts store to see if they sell the terminal end that you need or battery post shims.
http://www.solarseller.com/battery_p...ery_post_shims