# Another car question - new battery, crackling sound, won't start **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716 "2008-01-23T21:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716/1 "2008-01-23T21:29:24Z")
Hopefully **Rick** or some car-savvy Doper can help here. My '90 Acura Integra has been sitting for about a month, because I bought a newer car and the wife isn’t using it at the time. The other day I went to start it - and the battery was totally dead. No dome light, nothing. AAA came by, gave me a jump, and I took it to the NTB and got a new one. Started up fine from there, drove it home… …and the next day when I tried to start it, two things: 1. The car made a crackling sound, like one of those generator balls, when I turned the car to accessory. 2. It wouldn’t turn over. Every now and then it would sputter, as if it was going to start, then it would go back to trying to turn over. So the battery appears to be fine, as I’ve got lights, radio, etc. Any ideas about what the crackling sound is all about? It stops after about 30 seconds, but I don’t recall hearing it before. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716/2 "2008-01-23T23:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow] 1. The car made a crackling sound, like one of those generator balls, when I turned the car to accessory…It stops after about 30 seconds, but I don’t recall hearing it before. [/quote] Where is the sound coming from? > [@](#): > > 1. It wouldn’t turn over. Every now and then it would sputter, as if it was going to start, then it would go back to trying to turn over. I believe you’re misusing the term “turn over” (a common mistake these days). “Turn over” means “crank,” as in the starter cranking the engine. If when you turn the key to the start position you hear a rhythmic “ruh-ruh-ruh” sound, it’s turning over. Do I understand correctly that it will crank, but won’t catch and run? ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716/3 "2008-01-23T23:04:57Z")
Hmmm. I seem to recall one of our cars had this problem when I was growing up. My mother asked our neighbor to look at it (pilot, mechanic), and she heard him say “Whoa!” when she tried to crank the engine. The battery electrodes were arcing. New terminals solved the problem, I think. So, have a friend watch the battery as you crank, and look for shorts that could drain the battery. Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716/4 "2008-01-23T23:13:47Z")
I agree with **Gary T** and **Vlad/Igor**. Exactly what is the engine doing when you turn the key to start? Where is the noise coming from? I agree that it might be a loose cable, but more info is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716/5 "2008-01-24T04:27:04Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] Where is the sound coming from? [/quote] It seems to be coming from the dashboard area. But only when the car is _first_ turned to the ignition position - you know, the place where all you have to do is turn the key a touch to crank the engine. Once that happens it doesn’t make the crackling noise, unless you turn off the car and turn it back on again. > [@](#): > > I believe you’re misusing the term “turn over” (a common mistake these days). “Turn over” means “crank,” as in the starter cranking the engine. If when you turn the key to the start position you hear a rhythmic “ruh-ruh-ruh” sound, it’s turning over. Do I understand correctly that it will crank, but won’t catch and run? Exactly. The ruh-ruh noise, initially sounding as if it will catch, then just the ruh-ruh. Many years ago the car was buried under the snow for about a week, and the AAA guy came out and cranked it for like three minutes (which I always thought was a no-no). In any case it eventually caught and purred like a kitten. I’ve given it a little gas, but not too much as to flood the engine. I’ll see if I can get the wife to venture outside to take a look at the battery for sparks. But wouldn’t the NTB guys have noticed this when they changed it out? (Granted, the guy told me he had a GED, and I was there minutes before they closed.) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-car-question-new-battery-crackling-sound-wont-start/434716/6 "2008-01-24T05:47:51Z")
It’s very unlikely you have a battery connection problem. Cranking the starter is what requires the most power from the battery, and it seems to be doing that fine. The location, duration, and onset (i.e., turning the key to the on position) of the noise suggest something quite apart from the battery. As to what they do suggest, nothing specific has come to me yet. A more precise location of the noise might help.