What to do if your car starts with a dead battery?

What to do if your car starts with a dead battery?

Jump the big terminals on the starter solenoid next to the battery with a screwdriver – watch out for the sparks! If the engine cranks, the starter and power wiring is good. The starter relay is also known as a starter solenoid. The rest of the tech note only concerns no crank problems.

Why does my car battery drop when I start it?

Try starting the car. Normally, the voltage will drop to about 10 volts because of the load. If it drops much more than that, the battery is bad. If the battery appears OK, move the leads one at a time to the clamps, the engine block, etc. until you get a big drop in voltage when starting.

Why does my car battery click when I turn it on?

That and my original battery attached is an aftermarket Gel battery that shows a full 12.6V charge. The “click” you get, does it sound like the starter engaging but just doesn’t turn over or is it the “click click click” when you actually have a dead battery without enough juice to engage the starter?

Why is my starter drawing too much current?

This puts a big load on the battery. The problem you describe is due to either a battery with a low charge, faulty wiring to the starter or, the starter motor itself is bad. Have the motor checked to see if it is drawing too much current from the battery. Please allow me to echo what mcparadise stated.

Why does my car battery go dead when I start the car?

So if your battery was marginal when the weather was warm (starting the car, but might show up as iffy on a test) it can come up as a dead player when the temp drops. When batteries go bad they can do so in many different failure modes.

What does it mean when a car battery is not charged?

The battery is shot. The charger indicating a fully charged battery means one of two things: the battery is fully charged, or the battery is faulty and won’t take a charge. A battery that has sat for a month and then expended some energy trying to start the engine is not going to be fully charged.

What happens when battery is not strong enough to start engine?

IOf the battery is still not strong enough to start the engine, it needs replacing, regardless of what a voltmeter tells you. You need to measure the battery’s terminal voltage under load. This means while the engine is cranking. It’s possible to read nearly the fully rated terminal voltage on a dead cell if you take a no-load measurement.

Is it possible to read the terminal voltage of a dead battery?

It’s possible to read nearly the fully rated terminal voltage on a dead cell if you take a no-load measurement. This is due to the battery’s internal resistance and the loading effect of the measuring device (the theory behind this is complicated and I won’t attempt to get into it here).

Posted In Q&A