I tried to start my car this morning and when I turned the key, it gave a vague attempt to start and failed out. Subsequent attempts didn’t even sound like the engine was trying to do anything, turning the key just made the headlights flicker on and off real fast.
I’ve had a warning light on for a couple of weeks that I need to change my oil, but literally just a couple weeks, not a long time at all. It was also pretty cold in the garage, but cold by West Coast standards, which isn’t all that cold really.
I assume it’s just a loose wire somewhere? It’s a Lincoln. Does anyone have a good idea where to look under the hood to find it? I know nothing about car mechanics nor electronics.
Or does it sound like I need to figure out a tow truck or do something else?
You didn’t tell us how old the car or battery was.
Can you jump it with another car’s battery? As beowulff said it’s likely a dead battery. Is the battery more that a few years old? Once you determine it’s the battery I would have the charging system checked to make sure your alternator isn’t failing. Any garage should be able to do that.
I actually have a portable car battery/jumper kit that I bought to use to power lighting for filming outdoors. I guess I’ll get a chance to use it for its intended purpose!
Not sure how I would have ran the battery out. Maybe I didn’t close the door all the way or something, last I got out? Or do batteries have an ultimate lifespan?
Stationary batteries can last 20+ years, in an automobile, not so much. Heat and vibration kill them. 5 or 6 years isn’t too bad, actually. Car batteries are usually neglected, it’s surprising they last as long as they do. Usually long enough to notice they’ve gotten more expensive than the last time. Replace it with a new one and fugedaboudit
More common in my experience are crudded up terminals. Step one: Remove the cables from the battery (negative first). Step two: clean the clamps and terminals. (They make handy little tools for this.) Step three: put the cables back on (negative last).
Then try and crank it.
I’ve had batteries last 10 years just by keeping the terminals clean (and not completely draining the battery down if at all possible).
Dead battery for sure, charge it or get a new one first, but if it won’t turn over at all, may be the fuel pump (if cold outside), you can whack the fuel tank with a stick and try again, or open the snorkel (air filter hose) and pour some gasoline (half a cup is fine) in it and try again. Just some ideas to throw out there, a poor man’s fix, but it usually works enough to hobble the car into a shop if you don’t want to pay for a tow.
That’s not the way to bet though, remember he lives in a warm climate. I’m guessing you, on the other hand, live in a cooler area. Battery life in southern states is far less. Heat is the culprit. Batteries often fail during the first seasonal cold snap, but it was the heat that did them in. In years past battery manufacturers even had a “southern” and “northern” battery, they were constructed differently in order to get a little more life out of them in the heat.
push starts are out even on (modern) manual trans cars for the most part. modern electronics means the PCM needs to see the engine crank through at least two complete crankshaft revolutions before it’ll enable the fuel injectors.
Nope. Very warm climate. (It was 63 this morning.) And I have no idea where you’re getting the idea that warm weather is worse on batteries than cold weather. That’s the opposite of my personal experience and everything I’ve read.
As for that last sentence. Wow. There is a measure called “cold cranking amps”. People sometimes recommend that if you live in a very cold place you get a battery with more cold cranking amps. I.e., you should basically buy a better battery if you live in a quite frozen place. So better battery = North, not South.
Cold or warm, cruft on the terminals is a common issue that should be checked before going out and wasting money on buying a new battery.
Not “warm” weather - “hot” weather.
If a battery lasts 18 months out here, you are doing well. The 140+ temperatures under the hood kills batteries. It’s true that the battery gets the most demand at cold temperatures, but the heat causes them to degrade.
The fact that the headlights ‘flicker on and off real fast’ or even still work at all would not indicate a dead battery to me. I’m leaning more toward something like the starter solenoid.
