No electrical power - please help!!!

[blum]

Dear all

This is really weird, I came back from a 14 days vacation and tried to
start my car but nothing happened. It worked perfectly before the
vacation. I have a Lagacy 2000 automatic gear. The problem is that
there is no power at all. I have tried to jump it but nothing happens,
it is as there is no connection between the battery and the car - it is
just dead.

Anybody experienced something like that? I'll be glad to receive as
many comments as possible.

Regards Blum

 

[Edward Hayes]

When you say dead, do you mean no lights or gauges? If really dead,
then I would be checking the connections and cables from the battery
to ground and starter and including the chassey grounds.

 

[blum]

Edward Hayes skrev:

When you say dead, do you mean no lights or gauges? If really dead,
then I would be checking the connections and cables from the battery
to ground and starter and including the chassey grounds.

Yeah it's really dead, no light even in the cabin and it doesn't even
give a click when I'm turning the key. Would a crashed battery cause
such symptoms? I mean not being able to jump start? I have checked the
connections and to my opinion they seems ok (I'm not an expert).

 

[KLS]

This is really weird, I came back from a 14 days vacation and tried to
start my car but nothing happened. It worked perfectly before the
vacation. I have a Lagacy 2000 automatic gear. The problem is that
there is no power at all. I have tried to jump it but nothing happens,
it is as there is no connection between the battery and the car - it is
just dead.

Is this the original battery in the car? Sounds like it's time to
replace it. Cheap.

 

[AS]

I would imagine that your battery discharged, by itself or a dome light
or something left on while you were away.

When the batteries go this dead, connecting the jumper cables will only
work after your battery is allowed to charge for some time.

Good luck

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

I would imagine that your battery discharged, by itself or a dome light or
something left on while you were away.

When the batteries go this dead, connecting the jumper cables will only
work after your battery is allowed to charge for some time.

Good luck

The replies you are getting are really AMAZING. AND WRONG!!
One guy imagines the battery discharged itself and you must charge the
battery before ANYTHING will happen (WRONG)
Another one tells you to replace the battery (Cheap) WRONG!!!!!
These "Pep-Boys" backyard mechanics are not well informed.

Have ANY of you read EXACTLY what he asked??? Anyone have some analytical
skills?????
Read again..."NO POWER AT ALL" even when jumpered from another vehicle.(Its
not the battery)
Vehicles jumpered WILL start with a stone dead battery when jumped from
another car.(With GOOD cables)
Checking HIS battery with a voltmeter AT THE TERMINALS will show he has 12
volts.

Mr. Blum.....
Check the POSITIVE cables at the battery. There are more than one there. The
heavy one is the starter.A lighter cable is the feed to the fuseblocks.Some
vehicles will use one heavy cable to the starter solenoid.A lighter cable
will join there and head to the connector for a fuselink. There will be a
set of nylon connectors that connect a fusible link. Check the connectors
and link with a meter.
Since the vehicle was sitting for 14 days, it IS possible some rodent chewed
things up.I have seen this more than once.The circuit is OPEN between the
battery and the fuseblock area.The negative cable is a #4 and it takes a
hell of a mouse/rat/squirrel to chew one thru one.
Rodents will chew the shit out of underhood wiring! They LOVE rubber
sparkplug wires and vinyl is like candy for them.
Voltage checks......Measure TO-FROM.....
Voltmeter from NEG battery terminal to fender/engine block..should read
0.0Volts
Voltmeter from POS battery terminal to NEG terminal..should read 12.6 Volts
Voltmeter from POS battery terminal to Fender/Engine block...should read
12.6 Volts
OHMmeter from NEG battery terminal to Fender/Engine..should read close to
ZERO Ohms.

Items NOT causing this problem..DO NOT REPLACE.....
Battery
Alternator
Ignition Switch

Items for the Pep-Boys mechanics
Rear mainseal
Transmission
Muffler
Timing Belt
ECM box
Ashtray (full or not)

 

[Bonehenge]

Vehicles jumpered WILL start with a stone dead battery when jumped from
another car.(With GOOD cables)

NOT always in MY experience. <G>

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

NOT always in MY experience. <G>

With GOOD cables you wont have the I/R drop and it will crank. Even if the
cables are light, the problem vehicle WILL be able to
see the lights cone on, the domelight work, the dash light up, the
headlights work.......
It's NOT the battery in this case....

 

[Rebecca B.]

Is there anyway that you could have left a light or something on?

I had this same problem with my 2000 Legacy after I left one of the map
lights on for a about a week. It drained the battery so low that it
wouldn't take a jump. My boyfriend changed the battery for me and it
was fine.

 

[AS]

Yes, a dead battery can cause those sympthoms. Sometimes I have found
that by disconnecting the dead battery completely and conecting the
jumper wires to the wire terminals you get the car back to life. Be
careful not to run the engine with this hookup because you could cause
damage to your car.

Good luck,

Alex

 

[AS]

To all other posters: Forgive this rant directed only to tirebiter.

Oh tirebiter:

In my experience, people who really know the most, are generally not
loud or obnoxious, nor arrogant, most are humble. People with
insecurities tend to be loud to compensate and appear as knowledgeable.

If you do not like what other people say, you can always disagree, but
your "Amazing" and "Wrong" sure make you sound like you have not had
much experience or that you are bitter or even perhaps, a precocious
ejaculator.

Do you know what happens inside and old battery? why they lose charge
on their own, in such a way that they can lose their charge in a couple
of days?

Do you know what the voltage in blum's car battery is?

Do you know what kind of jumper cables he has?

Do you know what his skill level is?

Do you know how old his car's battery is?

Do you know that a dead battery (discharged or short circuited) can
cause a major voltage drop in the jumper wires, just as a short circuit
would?

Sometimes with great jumper wires, a difficult connection or a rusted
terminal will make it impossible to jumpstart.

Remember that you can jumpstart a car, with a partially discharged
battery using a small 20Ah hobby battery. This is NOT the case with a
fully discharged battery.

If I remember correctly, the simplest is usually the explanation for a
problem.

It would be pretty elaborated for your rodent to eat all the wires so
NOTHING would work in the car. I have seen rodent problems in cars but
something usually works in the car. Not your doomsday scenario in which
the rodent ate everything.

Tirebiter, can you really think or you just act on impulse?

How old are you Porgy, 15?

In the unlikely case that you tirebiter are right, it is a shame that
the right diagnosis came from you.

So you do not waste your breath replying, you are on ignore.

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

To all other posters: Forgive this rant directed only to tirebiter.

Oh tirebiter:

In my experience, people who really know the most, are generally not loud
or obnoxious, nor arrogant, most are humble. People with insecurities
tend to be loud to compensate and appear as knowledgeable.

If you do not like what other people say, you can always disagree, but
your "Amazing" and "Wrong" sure make you sound like you have not had much
experience or that you are bitter or even perhaps, a precocious
ejaculator.

Do you know what happens inside and old battery? why they lose charge on
their own, in such a way that they can lose their charge in a couple of
days?

Do you know what the voltage in blum's car battery is?

YES...should be 12.6 Sitting....

Do you know what kind of jumper cables he has?

Doesnt matter! any wire will be enough to light the domelight.

Do you know what his skill level is?

Nope..thats why trouble shooting info was supplied to HIM.

Do you know how old his car's battery is?

Once again, DOESNT MATTER. The car would jumpstart or at least light up when
jumpered.

Do you know that a dead battery (discharged or short circuited) can cause
a major voltage drop in the jumper wires, just as a short circuit would?

HORSE-SHIT! A "Dead" battery is not a short circuit, in fact if fully
discharged its an OPEN circuit.

Sometimes with great jumper wires, a difficult connection or a rusted
terminal will make it impossible to jumpstart.

ONCE AGAIN! read that NOTHING even lights up.......

Remember that you can jumpstart a car, with a partially discharged battery
using a small 20Ah hobby battery. This is NOT the case with a fully
discharged battery.

CONGRATS! You got one statement right!

If I remember correctly, the simplest is usually the explanation for a
problem.

The OP got just that! this is not directed to you!

It would be pretty elaborated for your rodent to eat all the wires so
NOTHING would work in the car. I have seen rodent problems in cars but
something usually works in the car. Not your doomsday scenario in which
the rodent ate everything.

Doesnt have to eat EVERYTHING! just the fuselink or wire leading to it.ONE
wire from the Battery or starter.

Tirebiter, can you really think or you just act on impulse?

How old are you Porgy, 15?

**** YOU and the 3 legged horse you rode in on! A 15 year old would not know
who Porgy Tirebiter even is (YOU DON'T)

In the unlikely case that you tirebiter are right, it is a shame that the
right diagnosis came from you.

That would frost your cake right hahahahaha You Moron!
This is for the OP, not you space-cadet.

So you do not waste your breath replying, you are on ignore.

GOOD SHOW there Maynard!

 

[AS]

Blum, can you post when you find your problem? I am really interested
in knowing what the cause of your problem was.

Good luck!

 

[Bonehenge]

Yes, a dead battery can cause those sympthoms. Sometimes I have found
that by disconnecting the dead battery completely and conecting the
jumper wires to the wire terminals you get the car back to life.

Right.

That's because the donor vehicle, unless it's a wrecker with special
starting capabilities, often can't start the dead vehicle AND charge a
totally dead battery. As soon as the cables are clipped on, the bad
battery draws down the donor juice.

This is why waiting a few minutes with the cables connected will often
crank a vehicle that wouldn't crank at all.

I've had a lot of shitboxes over the years, and I live in a cold
climate. <G>

 

[Jon Macey]

tirebiter go away. you are rude and annoying. shouting with "!" will not
get you anywhere. goodbye.

 

[Jon Macey]

oh and two more things:

what is your background and experience in these things?
how old are you really?

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

tirebiter go away. you are rude and annoying. shouting with "!" will not
get you anywhere. goodbye.

I think his advice is as good or better than many and he did obviously
pay attention to what the OP wrote (I may have been trying to look
'past' that) and he has every right to post here. Although he was
dismissive and critical of what the rest of us wrote, if the OP can
glean a correct diagnosis from ANY of us - that's cool.

And, if someone learned of the name contemporaneously with its
popularity,'Porgy Tirebiter' would indicate someone over - say 50 ?
years of age minimum. closer to 55 I'd guess.

Carl

 

[AS]

In reading Carl's response, I got to read the tirebiter's.

A discharged battery is not an open circuit (unless a defective
connection inside the battery), this is the reason why chargers used to
revive deep discharged batteries have a current limiting circuit. In
the real world, current flowing into a discharged battery goes from the
chargers MAX to a few amps (which by the way one of the systems used to
check for alternator output: crank the engine for a while after
disabling the ignition, and then start it while measuring the current)

Inside an old battery, the solids from the cells break loose from the
plates in the cells and become suspended in the electrolyte
(water/acid), creating a current path inside the cells. Most of the
loose solids deposit at the bottom of the battery and this is why you
should not tilt an old battery.

If a battery is really dead, jumping it will not necessarily light
anything in the jumped vehicle. Bonehenge and Rebbeca have probably
seen this too.

Yes, the voltage in the battery should be around 12 volts, and the world
should be a kind place, but is it?

Tirebiter may be old enough to know who porgy tirebiter was, but i am
inclined to think that his mental age is still around 15.

http://www.tirebiter.com/, yes I did not know, and this new knowledge is
going to change my life.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

In reading Carl's response, I got to read the tirebiter's.

A discharged battery is not an open circuit (unless a defective
connection inside the battery), this is the reason why chargers used to
revive deep discharged batteries have a current limiting circuit. In
the real world, current flowing into a discharged battery goes from the
chargers MAX to a few amps (which by the way one of the systems used to
check for alternator output: crank the engine for a while after
disabling the ignition, and then start it while measuring the current)

Inside an old battery, the solids from the cells break loose from the
plates in the cells and become suspended in the electrolyte
(water/acid), creating a current path inside the cells. Most of the
loose solids deposit at the bottom of the battery and this is why you
should not tilt an old battery.

If a battery is really dead, jumping it will not necessarily light
anything in the jumped vehicle. Bonehenge and Rebbeca have probably
seen this too.

Yes, the voltage in the battery should be around 12 volts, and the world
should be a kind place, but is it?

Tirebiter may be old enough to know who porgy tirebiter was, but i am
inclined to think that his mental age is still around 15.

http://www.tirebiter.com/, yes I did not know, and this new knowledge is
going to change my life.

One thing I shoulda asked - could the battery have discharged and then
been frozen?

whatever

I hope ht eOP gets back on the road

Carl

 

[CompUser]

tirebiter go away. you are rude and annoying. shouting with "!" will not
get you anywhere. goodbye.

He jumps to conclusions about unstated
information, posts incorrect info as fact,
and insults everyone else in the newsgroup...
seems like he'll fit right in!