Hi all,

Last week my car wouldn't start, when I opened up the hood there was some nasty greenish-blue corrosion all over the battery. I cleaned it up and then a friend jumped my car to get it started. I took it to Autozone and they said the batter was fine. It started fine the next couple days. I didn't drive it yesterday, and then this morning it wouldn't start again. I tried jumping it, but it still wouldn't start. It makes a clicking noise like the starter is trying to engage, but doesn't turn over. I was about to take out the alternator to have it checked (since I can't get the car running to take it in). Does anybody have any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks,
Chad

 

Any idea if your battery (charge system) dash light was on the past few days? If you have nothing better to do, you could remove the alt and take it to Autozone for testing.

 

Your battery is dead. Try charging it up overnight, then see how it does. If it keeps going dead, have the alternator tested.

 

From the world of recent non-Volvo experience. It could be either. Daughter's CRV Honda had old battery that wouldn't hold a charge. So despite overnight charging it would start the car once and only once.
Checked it by charging it, then turning on headlights which quickly dimmed. With the engine off to take the alternator out of that test.

Son's Buick had bad alternator which led to less rapid discharge of fully recharged battery. But I sort of cheated since the car had a voltmeter and showed < 13 volts while running which confirmed bad alternator/regulator (one unit in GM world). His headlights would remain on and bright longer than I cared to watch with the engine off, telling me battery wasn't toast.

A battery "load test" will also let you know battery's condition. Any mechanic's shop can do this. You may want to try a charge to start the car and take it in. Buy, borrow or steal a plug in battery charger; and not one of those "trickle" chargers or it will take a very long time to recharge a dead but good battery.

Physics being physics, the same should apply to your car.

 

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I was able to get the battery down to Autozone, and they charged (it was dead) and tested the battery, which checked out. The car started fine when I put it back in the car, which I guess rules out the starter. I then took the car down to Autozone, and they checked the alternator. They said the volts, amps and diode were all good. I think it was 13.5 V, 40 A.

There had been some corrosion on my battery that I had cleaned off, but I got some more battery cleaner and cleaned the terminals thuroughly. I put on some of the felt protectors and loaded it up with dialectric goop. It's been working for the past two days, so i'm anxious to see if it keeps working.

 

You should be o.k. since the alternator is charging and the battery is charged.

A couple of things, though. First, automotive-type batteries don't really like to be discharged then recharged. Cuts the overall life expectancy. Don't expect miracles here, the battery won't be here in 3 or 4 years in all likelihood.

Second, has anybody checked the voltage regulator? That's a thing that is supposed to keep the battery charged, but not overcharged. They can fail, too.

If it were my car, and since its now running, I'd have charging voltage, amperage, etc., checked by somebody who knew what he was doing.