Try to start the car last night... turns over a couple of times and loses juice. Voltmeter says there's 12V, interior lights work, etc. I try to start again... chug, chug, nothing...

Roadside assistance comes along 45 mins later and gives me a boost. Car runs fine. I drive it home and leave it running for a total of 45 min.

This afternoon I do couple of short trips (10 mins). The car's starting but having to work a little harder than I thought. Took it to the dealership, but they can't do anything till next week (service dept closed). I started it a couple more times at the dealership to kill it to force them to do something... but it kept starting!!!

So now I'm paranoid... I'm thinking it will not start at the worst possible time. What do the gurus think the problem was/is/will be?

Thanks guys.

 

Check your battery cables, positive and negative. Look for corroded or loose connections at *either end* of the cables. The symptoms you describe are typically due to a high resistance somewhere in the primary circuits. That typically occurs at the wire terminals.

 

Checked per your suggestion... everything looks tight & clean. The car has 7000 miles and has only been driven this summer.

 

Has it been sitting recently? There could be corrosion on the starter relay contacts. I've also seen ants crawl in there. For some reason, ants are attracted by electricity, and they have a nasty habit of getting crushed when the relay tries to operate.

 

Maybe it's a bad cell in the battery. Maybe it could show 12 V on the ammeter, but can't put out the current necessary for starting. Turn on the headlights and see if they almost go out when you crank it. They should dim some but not much.

Good luck.
WayneTN

 

could also be the battery was low; and it didnt get time to recharge on the short trips.

take a nice long highway run and it might be all better.

 

Hasn't been sitting... it's my daily driver. I'll try starting with headlights on, then go for a long cruise tomorrow... any excuse to drive this car...

Thanks for the input...

 

sounds like u got voltage but not enough amprage to start the car so probably corrosion on the battery terminals or something is wrong with the battery.