But the fact that it started at least once after the first time it died made me think it probably wasn’t the starter solenoid, which is why I didn’t mention it.
It can’t be the alternator. If the alternator is broken and doesn’t charge, the car’s electronics and electrics will drain the battery while the engine is running, until it’s depleted and the car stops.
I only read the first post.
It’s possible. If he had enough juice in the battery to go a few miles, then he parked it overnight, the battery might have drained by morning. It’s pretty rare, but it happened on my Saturn.
Whoa! I win the thread! It took eight years at almost 6,000 posts but I finally did it!
A high buildup of the white powdery (acid, highly fucking dangerous if inhaled or dusted onto skin and/or eyes) substance on the battery in a short period of time is usually due to increased electrical activity with battery acids, usually when the balance is way off, which means close to dying battery.
I wouldn’t rule out the alternator just yet.
Buy a cheap multimeter and you have to test the voltage on the battery. Non-start voltage should be around 11.8-12.6 (this is at 80°F… yeah it matters). Start the car, then check the voltage. That should be between 13.5 and 14.5 volts (due to the charging system), and hitting the gas could make it jump up to 16 volts (before it’s capped by a regulator/rectifier which releases any extra charging current via heat like a big heat sink).
A bad alternator would show less than 13.5 volts while the car is running.
Any AutoZone/Advanced Auto Parts should be able to roll out a charger and test to make sure of this, if you really don’t want to spend $15 on a multimeter.
And for fuck’s sake, if you’re going to jump start a car with a shitty battery, I hope you did it the right way. And I’m going to tell you the right way so that others in this forum don’t fuck up and explode their face off.
To properly jump start a car:
- Put positive (red) on dead battery
- Put positive on live battery
- Put negative (black) on live battery
- Put negative on SHINY PART OF DEAD CAR’S ENGINE OR FRAME TO GROUND IT, NOT ON THE FUCKING DEAD BATTERY
it’s lupus!
Yup, I did this.
Regarding the power steering theory, the power steering pump is probably fine. When the car stalls, the faint tug you are probably feeling is a transition to the lack of power steering.
If the dash is losing power after it rains, I’m guessing there is a supposedly sealed conduit that isn’t so sealed anymore. It may also be somewhat of a permanent short that is draining your battery.