Need help - engine just died! Please read all details.....lots to tell.....thank you!
bkauntie64
Member Posts: 4
I have been having issues with my interior lights intermittently working, as well as the dashboard lights being extremely dim. Then, my oil light came on last night. I checked it - was a quart low. Added a quart....all good. Then, this morning I drove the kids to school. On the way home the oil light came on again, and shortly afterwards the engine died! Engine will not turn over at all.....not even a click. My nephew tried to jump it, but nothing. There was some charge to the battery already, but he tried to jump it anyway. He checked fuses etc. but could not figure it out. After we pushed it home I checked the oil....still full! Just tried to turn over the engine again....still nothing. Cannot use my key fob to lock/unlock or set the alarm either. Does this make sense to anyone? Can you help?
Comments
Sounds to me like a charging system problem. I would get the battery fully charged on a charger, then test the alternator output, and if that's okay, then "load-test" the battery. If your battery is more than say 5 years old, it could be ready for replacement, and if your alternator cannot fully recharge a battery, your car will act just as you described. PS: Not a good idea to try to jump a totally dead battery. When your engine stalls, the oil light will come on anyway, so the low oil level might be merely a correlation, not a causation--in other words, it's not causing this problem, but is a symptom of it.
The oil light alert went off on the way to school, and the engine did not die until I was nearly back home......about 15 minutes later. Also, I have since pulled all fuses (auto relay, etc) and checked them for continuity to ensure they were okay. No issues found.
Okay, thanks for the clarification, but I still don't see the two problems as related at the moment. If,heaven forbid, the engine had seized for lack of oil, the starter motor would still jam against the stuck flywheel, so if you aren't getting any starter action you have some kind of electrical issue. Start with the battery cables.
Ah, like Sherlock Holmes said (or maybe he didn't)...try the simple things first.