I had to jump start my car yesterday, but it started up fine this morning. I took into the shop, which I had been intending to do anyway because I needed to get a new gasket, and mentioned this to them. At first I thought it was the battery, but I just got it a year and a half ago.
Anyway they just called and said the battery checked out and there doesn’t appear to be a problem with the alternator or starter.
Anyone here have any idea of why the car might not have started yesterday, but started fine this morning? I didn’t leave the headlights on or anything (I had been driving it during the day), so I don’t think it was a case of something like that just draining the power. Is this something I should be worried about, or was it just likely the case of the alternator or some other component just temporarily crapping out? Or is it a case of my car getting old (it has close to 130,000 miles on it)?
It could have been something like a stuck relay that left power on to something that should have been turned off, which resulted in a drained the battery. You might also have something that is draining the battery but just isn’t doing it fast enough to kill it overnight. How long did the car sit before yesterday?
I’ve had the fan relay stick on exactly twice in my Cadillac in the last five years. The first time it nearly killed the battery in a few hours. The second time I heard the fan still running after I got out of the car, so I just opened up the hood and gave the relay a whack and the fan shut off. If it ever starts happening more than once every four or five years I’ll replace the relay, but right now it’s so rare I don’t worry about it.
Sure, it might. All the bumping and jostling associated with getting cables from the trunk, opening the hood, etc. and the extra “umph!” of another charging system hooked to it. (Maybe the car had to be pushed into position too.)
What kind of driving do you do, and what did you do after getting it started yesterday? I know I’ve drained the battery before from only driving short trips a couple of times a week and the battery not getting enough time to recharge (because it was really cold and I was running the seat and rear window heaters and the fan at max).
The thing is, we don’t know why it wouldn’t start yesterday. We don’t know if the jumping actually helped or it was coincidental that the car then started. And while we assume it was a no-crank or slow-crank situation rather than a crank-but-won’t-run situation, we don’t know that for a fact.
Batteries, alternators, and starters can develop intermittent symptoms, where they fail to perform properly one day but work well and pass tests the next day, so they can’t be totally ruled out. Poor connections can likewise work okay sometimes but act up at other times. And drains on the battery can be undetected and/or intermittent.
I don’t think we can do much more than guess unless and until it acts up again, and more info is garnered about exactly how it acted up.
'Cause :o I had this issue a couple of years ago. Most of the time, my vehicle would start with no problem whatsoever. But sometimes, nothing. A jump start seemed to fix the problem.
I took it into the shop, only to find that it was…uh-hm…an operator error.
The floor mat on the driver’s side was getting bunched up under the clutch pedal. When I got in and out fussing with the jump start, I moved it enough to allow the truck to be started. :smack: At least it only cost $50 and my dignity to have it checked out.
If your car is an automatic, the previous answers all sound like good possibilities.
I’m going with this one. I had a Jeep that needed a jump every month or two. It had a bad connection at the battery. Took me a couple of episodes to figure out that just messing with battery connection (with or without actually attaching any cables) would fix the problem for awhile.
Bad connection at the battery posts. Please don’t let anyone convince you coca-cola is an acceptable cleaner for battery posts. Yes it makes them look nice cosmetically, but causes electrical issues shortly afterward.
Could be an ignition switch or activator rod problem. Or just one of those things (which usually turns out to be I left the lights on, or the door wasn’t fully closed).
When you turned the key, did you hear anything besides the radio and lights? My starter’s acting up (as in, I’ve had to bang on it twice in the last two years; I think it’ll last me a while longer) and I can definitely hear a grinding noise when it’s not working. (It just happened again this weekend, that’s why it’s fresh in my mind.)
Could be your starter, and the jostling and banging freed it up again. That’s what happens with mine, anyway.
Maybe you just left a light on by mistake. You could also have a short somewhere or a glovebox door switch stuck on. Something like that would do it. It’s really easy to check and run down with a volt-ohm-meter, which everybody should have in my opinion.
Check the battery cables themselves. Alot of times the insulation will look fine, but the cables will be badly corroded. That will give you the same problems as a bad connection or corroded terminals. I’ve had this happen on several cars.
Remember, always start with the simplest things first when troubleshooting.
Just noticed the 130k. Definitely check the battery cables.
After checking that the battery cables are clean and tight, you should look into the starter solenoid. Listen to see if it clicks and does not turn over. This could be worn contacts inside. Turns out to be an easy and cheap fix if you do it yourself.
