CAR IS DEAD and need it back pronto

[supersport]

hi tonight i barley got my car home..when i did get it started the rpm reader did not move and the check engine lights was on..when i did get home i checked the car and tighted the grounds..it has a new starter and battery, i checked the fuses.. but when i turn over the key all the lights go out and all i hear is a zapping noise...so dumbfounded i need help please

 

[LJRuddy]

Check battery terminal connections. Mine did the same thing. All i needed to do was tighten those 2 wires.

 

[supersport]

i did that

 

[TYSHO]

How "new" is the battery? Try cleaning the terminals and cables with a battery terminal cleaner from any autostore or WalMart. Your cables might not be clean enough to get a good contact on the battery terminals.

 

[Acidic]

Throw a battery charger on the battery, give it a few hours then get a good multimeter... the battery should read high 12v with the car off and close to 14v with the car running...

if it's low 12v or under on the battery it's dead..

if it reads fine but just make it to 13.8v or higher with the car running it needs an alt....

if both are good you should look at the wiring...

 

[supersport]

no, the battery cells are good....i put the key to one notch to move the shifter to drive i have a atx and all of a sudden out of know where there was a surge of power. so i put in neutral and tried and start it and then all the lights went dark again

 

[SoonerLS]

Sounds like the battery's dead or there's a bad ground connection. Bad or dead batteries will do this (though they generally like to do it at noon in the middle of August while in the middle of a parking lot with the temp around 110*F and no clouds in sight (don't ask me how I know)), but it sounds a lot like a bad ground or a bad connection at the battery.

My F-150 had this problem; it new battery with apparently clean terminals, but when I'd hit the starter, everything would go black. The problem was the inside surface of the terminal on the battery cable; it had been loose, and was partially eroded, and wasn't making good contact. Once I scraped it and tightened it down, it was fine, and hasn't given me any trouble since.

 

[TYSHO]

My F-150 had this problem; it new battery with apparently clean terminals, but when I'd hit the starter, everything would go black. The problem was the inside surface of the terminal on the battery cable; it had been loose, and was partially eroded, and wasn't making good contact. Once I scraped it and tightened it down, it was fine, and hasn't given me any trouble since.

But cleaning the cables are too hard and I want to know what else could be the problem?



CLEAN THE CABLES! You replaced the battery and the old one was most likely all corroded, meaning the cables have corrosion on the inside. This makes for a BAD contact and loss of power when the key is turned.

CLEAN THE CABLES!

You can probably scoop up enough pennies in the parking lot of an autostore or WalMart to buy the proper tool to clean the cables. This is the cheapest, fastest, and easiest task to do compared to everything else mentioned. You can also check the cables behind the terminals by cutting back some of the cable wrap, you'll be looking for nasty green looking cable wire. If that's showing, it's time to replace the battery cables.

 

[supersport]

i got it started...i trickle charged it all night and my altanator was dead...even though i just got it ohhh well live is not prefect.

 

[NoSlo]

clean the battery terminals

You should get a battery terminal cleaner - it has two parts. The first is a wire brush that looks like a fat pipe cleaner - you put that in the battery terminals on the wires and twist until the inside of the terminals are bare metal. The other half you push over the terminals on the battery and twist until they are also shiny metal.

You also may need to look at the other end of the battery cables - the battery wires go directly to the starter, and the eyelets there may have corroded away also.

I replaced both of my battery terminals with good ones from a stereo store after having the same problem - they cost about $20-30 each but are awesome, and you can put more wires directly into the terminals.