I was cleaning out my car earlier and listening to my radio while cleaning it. I was only outside for twenty minutes – thirty minutes at most – and when I went to turn my car on to move it back to its parking space, the engine wouldn’t start. Is this typical? I didn’t even have the key turned all the way; just far enough along that the radio would come on but not the air or lights, and the car runs just fine otherwise.
If it matters, it’s a 2006 Hyundai Elantra with about 45,000 miles on it.
It is typical for a bad battery.
Seconded. If you have alternate transportation, take the battery to an auto parts store and get it tested. If it’s the battery, get a new one, if not, buy a jumper pack and hie thee to a competent mechanic.
If you can get to a auto parts store, bring the old battery in and buy a new one. It isn’t that expensive to replace it and you should be able to do it all yourself and they will take the old battery from you. It only takes a few minutes and simple tools to replace a car battery. Anyone can do it for most models.
Either a weak battery or dirty terminals. But I would go with battery.
Did you have the key turned to the ‘Accessory’ position, or just turned to ‘on’ but not far enough to ‘start’?
Because if you had it set to ‘on’, you had the whole ignition system, etc. powered up, and would indeed use a lot more power. The ‘Acc’ position (usually reached by turning the key backwards from the normal start sequence) is what is designed for situations like yours.
car batteries have changed in the last 30 years. They used to be less powerful but they faded away slowly. Modern batteries have more power because they have more plates spaced closer together. When they fail they can fail quickly without much notice. They tend to last 4-5 years so if you bought the car in 2005 then you are coming up on 4 years. Consider yourself notified. Clean the terminals and connectors and have the battery tested.
I had a similar problem turned out to be bearing in the alternator. The fairly new battery was not being charged consistently and I destroyed it.
Thanks, everyone. I actually jumped my car off right after posting this, then drove it to the next town over to make sure the charge stuck, and it came on without a problem this morning. Based on the feedback in this thread, I’m going to take it to an auto store after work and have them check the battery for me, though.
I appreciate the responses.