moldyviolinist

iTrader: (1)

Hi again guys; having a string of problems with my '04.

Now I've got some electrical problems. The other day, car died at idle, including all the electrical systems. After fiddling with the battery terminals, electronics come back and I got it to start fine. However, now I can't start it at all. My battery appears to be OK (car will unlock, lights come on, radio can play), but as soon as I try to start the car, ALL the electronics die completely, and it won't even crank. It's really strange. All the electrical systems come back on as soon as I remove the negative terminal from the battery and put it back on again. At first I thought it was just a bad connection, so I cleaned off the negative terminal a bit (wasn't very dirty), but it didn't help. Everything works fine until I try and start the engine. Battery should not be close to dead.

Now I admit that I haven't checked the ignition fuse (had to get to work), but I can't understand why a blown fuse would cause everything to cut out, and then come back after re-seating the battery terminal.

I got the battery new about 6 months ago, and haven't had a single problem with it until recently.

Any ideas? I'll probably replace the battery and see if that helps first.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Before you replace the battery, disconnect and completely clean BOTH battery terminals. Not just the negative, and clean it more than "just a bit". When you reconnect, make sure that the clamps are well seated before you tighten them. Wiggle them around to find where they want to sit.

Classic symptoms of the battery connections being sufficient to feed current to all the low amperage accessories and lights, but not sufficient to feed the high voltage starter.

If you turned on your high beams and depressed the brake, I suspect you would have something else cut out as well.

moldyviolinist

iTrader: (1)

Thanks RIWWP. I'll be sure to clean them more thoroughly before purchasing a new battery.

A poor connection doesn't quite explain high-current failures to me though. You can get a lot of current through a small/bad connection; it'll just get hot and the voltage will drop. I don't see why all the low-current stuff would go off completely once I attempt to crank until I disconnect and reconnect the battery though.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The low voltage stuff shuts off because the relay for them turns off when you move the key to "start". That is intended, even with everything working correctly

It is probably staying off because the connection DID get hot, and hurt the current flow ability even more.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Check the battery voltage.....

If you have dirty terminals the battery won't charge properly either...so you get a double whammy......lousy current flow...and low voltage

It is likely that your battery is OK...but undercharging it for months isn't good for it

moldyviolinist

iTrader: (1)

Well I cleaned the terminals off. It didn't seem to help unfortunately, so I replaced the battery, and that seemed to fix the issue. Still, thanks for the suggestions. Cleaning is obviously the best first step.

I don't have a voltmeter, but I will take the battery to autozone and have them check it. I'll update with their findings. The battery should be under warranty.

Shameless

Bad battery is a drag mane. Most warranty is at less a year take dat crap back get to money refunded.ya digs.