1989 volvo 240dl
Went out to get in my car for a uni midterm (of course something i can't be late for) and i turned it to the on position to let the fuel pumps run for a couple of seconds and they whir just fine, all the dash lights were on and not dim. Then I turned it to the ignition and everything went dark and completely quiet. When I switch it back to on, that's all dark and quiet too. After that nothing does anything.

So I had to take my dad's old ford to uni.

I got back and jumped it and it started fine and ran fine. I turned it on and off, no problems, no dimming, no signs of power drain. Leave it for two hours, came back to it, and it did the same again. Here's an odd thing, when I unlock the doors, the auto unlock works just fine, lights are not dim, no signs of power problems. But as soon as try to turn it and nothing happens, everything is dead as dead can be. No lights, no auto lock, nothing.

Suggestions?

 

had a similar problem on another vehicle. pulled the battery and had it tested at advance auto and came up on their handy-dandy tester with almost no cold cranking amps. It would jump and run just find, but could not start on its own or hold a charge anymore. advance auto guy also said a cell went bad. The battery was 3.5 years old. Autocraft silver.

 

i have a battery in my old chevy cavi that's relatively new (2.5 years). I'll swap them and see if that makes a difference.

 

So... I went to switch the battery and the negative cable was loose. Seems to be fine now.

I guess the jump worked because it squeezed it shut for a bit, and me getting in and out of the car shook it loose.

Needless to say, I am kicking myself and feel like a jackass.

 

Okay, so I guess I was wrong. I was sitting at a light today going to work and turned off. It came back on when i turned it over again but then it died again. So i started back up and headed home and it made it most the way. But i am now driving a rusted old ford truck of my dad's which sucks. I can't rely on it to run, but I don't know what the damn issue is.

 

first thing to do is to pull out the battery, drive to advance auto or autozone, and have them test the battery. If it's "bad" problem solved for about $90. If it's "good"....good luck and let's hope others here can help troubleshoot.

 

Buy yourself a 20 dollar multimeter and do some basic testing. Battery volts with car off (~12.5v) and then with car on (~14v) to verify it's charging. You can also use it to test the draw with the car off to see if you have something draining the battery.

 

jmarble just NAILED it!! Get a multimeter bro. If you have a draw you will get voltage when the negative and positive sides are swapped...sounds like a bad alternator or bad or loose wiring to the alternator to me but who knows...I would not pull anything or take anything anywhere until you TEST it for yourself. System should be charging at 13-14 Volts. Good battery will read 13-14 volts. More or less and its"s bad. I have taken a PERFECTLY good battery and alternator into a parts place just like (Autozone or Schmucks or O'reillys etc.) to test them see if they were honest etc...and of course they told me it was BAD!! If you do not have a multimeter, get one they are cheap. If you cannot get one a good and free test to try is to start your car while it is running pull the negative battery cable off of your battery. If your car dies it's an alternator or a loose connection on the alternator. If it stays running you got another problem. Don"t leave the negative battery cable off too long if alternator is bad your car will die right away. Not good to leave cable off too long while running could fry ECU but just for a couple of seconds won't hurt nothing...Sounds like to me it may be a bad or loose connection if it's coming and going and a draw won't usually just make your car die out of nowhere it will just discahrge the battery when car is not running....check all 3 connections on your alternator. If car does not die then may be a battery may be something else that's why you need a multimeter bro...hope this helps and good luck