Electrical system suddenly completely dead.
My car isn't registered yet, but I drove my 2005 around the block a couple of times last week, and it ran fine. Parked it in my driveway for a couple of days, and today the electrical system is completely dead, so dead it's like there's no battery in it, zero indication of power anywhere.
I tried both my keys and remotes, nothing. I charged the battery, but it charged up quickly, indicating that it was fine in the first place. I checked the fuse on the positive battery cable, it was fine. I took the cover off the underhood fuse box, and looked at the diagram on the underside of it. It looks like there should be a 120A main fuse in there, but in the actual location there are just a couple of terminals with wires attached to them, and I don't want to mess with that without knowing what I'm doing. I could try jumping it, but I think the battery is fine and the car isn't positioned well for a jump with normal length cables. Any ideas? I just bought this car so I'm not familiar with working on them or their issues. I have no idea why the car was fine one day, and totally dead a couple of days later, with a seemingly good battery. |
So I checked the battery voltage after the charger said it was fully charged, and it was only 0.4! I don't know what the deal is with the charger. I hooked it up again, I'll see what happens.
|
Batteries are fickle things.....They can charge and have a resting voltage of 12.6+ volts and have almost no reserve capacity. Happened to my daughter BF the other week....battery voltage tested fine but wouldn't even turn the motor over
Put in a new battery and all is good I tend to believe the symptoms.....you either have no battery...or you have no connection to the system....really no other options Electricity is rather simple that way |
Originally Posted by Greasyman
(Post 4784723)
It looks like there should be a 120A main fuse in there, but in the actual location there are just a couple of terminals with wires attached to them, and I don't want to mess with that without knowing what I'm doing.
The fuse is under the terminals, it's bolted down. If someone has messed with it and bridged the terminals with a wire you definitely want to put a proper fuse in there. If the battery is only showing 0.4V it's probably beyond saving. When you get a new one, check for parasitic current. There are a few weak spots including the trunk light that could draw a current even with the car off. A healthy car should show about 0.02amp with no key in ignition, lights off and doors closed. If you find more, start pulling fuses until it drops to that level. |
Thanks for everyone's help. Turns out I'd left the trunk just a tiny bit cracked, so that's what cause the problem. Still don't know why the charger quit charging the battery when it still had very low voltage. I took the battery out of the car and tried again, and the charger worked properly and the battery seems to be holding a steady 12.4, so I guess it's ok. I'm glad it was just my absentmindedness that caused the problem, and nothing complicated and expensive.
At least I could check the trunk light thru the pass-through. Last time I checked for a trunk light that wouldn't go off, my wife had to get into the trunk of her mother's beat up old Saturn while I closed the lid. She's a sport. A small sport, that's why she was the one we volunteered for getting into the trunk. |
Most of the new electronic chargers won't charge a battery if the starting voltage is below 10v without running them parallel with another battery to get the voltage up. I think it's to prevent charging the wrong battery type
|
That's an interesting bit of info. I'll keep that in mind, and next time disconnect the battery first. Thanks.
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:10 AM. |
© 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands