so my i get out to my car this morning and my car wont start. the accessories were all working at the time, the lights came on, but when i tried to turn it over it just made a loud clicking noise. its been really cold here (like -11) and that may have something to do with it. i let it sit for a while and i just went back out and none of the accessories work now like the battery is dead. it just makes a faint chime when i put the key in. i suspect its the alternator. but with everything dead now maybe its the battery.

any ideas?

 

The alternator is a charger, that's it. When the engine is running it charges the battery and keeps the engine running. If the vehicle dies while driving--alternator.

The battery is what is used to store energy to start the car. If it don't start--Battery.

Now a bad alternator can under charge a battery causing it to not store enough power to start the car next go round. However, the procedure to get the engine running again is the same. Charge and test the battery, replace if it tests bad. If it tests good the charge should get the engine running.

You should have your charging system tested after you get the car running. Auto zone will do this for free and let you know if you need an alternator.

 

thanks for the info!
ill have my room mate try to give me a jump and see what happens.

 

-11??? yea i would think its the battery. how old is it?

 

im not sure... i bought the car a couple years ago and im pretty sure it wasnt brand new then. so it could easily be 3-4 years old.

 

Great timing on this thread -- just had the same problem. Bought a battery so hopefully that will fix the problem.

 

Important thing to remember is to get alternators and batteries checked, don't just make assumptions and start throwing parts at the car. Also, extreme heat or cold kills batteries, and it's even worse if the battery is already 3 or 4 years old. As far as I'm concerned, batteries are only good for 3 or 4 years anyway...

 

Most likely not the alternator. I would never trust a 4 year old battery in -11 Temps!!!!

 

well i tried to jump it today and all the accessories came back on like it was gonna start. it tried to crank a couple times then the security light came on and it wouldnt crank at all. ive got the battery out to go get it tested today.

 

midnight02; haha i wondered if maybe other people were havin this problem lately because of the season. let me know if it fixes the problem.

 

ok so i took the battery out to have it tested overnight and in the meantime they gave me a 'doner' battery to use which is pretty much the same battery. so i put the battery in, turn the key, and all the accessories work again, but this time no crank, no clicking, nothing. could it be the starter? the cars got 102k on it now...

 

scratch that. let it sit for about a half hour and when i went back out she started right up