Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Dead Battery Troubleshooting
moranawinter
Member Posts: 1
I've been having issues with my car battery dying. I manually turn off the headlights when I park and I have the interior lights set to stay off, even when opening the doors. I brought my car in to have the battery and alternator tested. They reported that both the battery and alternator are fine. When it's dead, it doesn't sound like the car is even trying to start. My dash lights don't come on and I can't lock/unlock my doors via the fob. When I jump it, it usually starts right up first try. After jumping it, I drive it for a minimum of 30 minutes, usually on the highway, and often it will be dead again the next morning.
It is Winter, so cold could be affecting it. There is also a noise that happens occasionally. The best I can describe it as is an electrical clicking sound. Other than the noise coming from somewhere under the hood, I can't figure out what is making the noise or why. At first, we thought the noise was coming from the jump pack, but we've now heard it multiple times when we open the hood in preparation for a jump, but before we get the jump pack out. It usually makes two clicks at a time and then silence. It does not make the clicking noise while attempting to start the car.
Does anyone have any ideas on what might be happening? I do plan to bring it to our local mechanic, but would love some advice to calm my worried thoughts while I wait for an appointment.
It is Winter, so cold could be affecting it. There is also a noise that happens occasionally. The best I can describe it as is an electrical clicking sound. Other than the noise coming from somewhere under the hood, I can't figure out what is making the noise or why. At first, we thought the noise was coming from the jump pack, but we've now heard it multiple times when we open the hood in preparation for a jump, but before we get the jump pack out. It usually makes two clicks at a time and then silence. It does not make the clicking noise while attempting to start the car.
Does anyone have any ideas on what might be happening? I do plan to bring it to our local mechanic, but would love some advice to calm my worried thoughts while I wait for an appointment.
0
Comments
As far as jump starting it and driving it around goes: When a battery is drained to the pint that the car won't start, the alternator isn't sufficient to charge the battery back up properly. It actually takes about two hours on a charger in a shop to get the battery back to about 50% state of charge and all night to fully charge the battery close to 100%. One way to think of it is a discharged battery can still have enough energy to start the engine, but not enough to tolerate any additional problems. So it's dead the next day. The one concern is a battery that is staying at a low state of charge will fail in a short period of time so you do want to get it charged back up fully ASAP.