Car will not fire! Possible battery?
 

Well I got in my car to move it, fired up no problem. It was cold and with the cam sometimes it will drop too low on the rpms and stall. Well it stalled in the middle of moving it and I went to restart it, and it started acting like I had a dead battery. Little clicks from the starter but it will not fire. I tried jumping it with another car, no dice just clicks. Almost like its not getting enough juice to completely fire.

Checked voltage on battery its at 12.25 with cables connected and disconnected.

Tried to push start it, and it fired for a split second, but the lights flickered and the car turned off. The lights flicker and the bell chimes when I try to fire it so I dont know if I have a security issue or if its the battery?

Does anyone have any ideas? Im pissed and stumped. Bad battery? Bad Alt? Starter?, but it clicks. Just feels like the car is not getting enough juice.

Did you check for corrosion on any of the cables?

Might want to have the batt checked, see if it has a short.

.

What kind of car were you jumping with? Given your cam, you'll probably need another V8 or a truck to give you enough cranking power.

In my experience, a bad battery will test lower - but it could be a weak battery. (You need amps to crank the car - not volts.) If you have an unsealed battery, you may also check to make sure your water level is good.

You may have a loose wire somewhere. Are you getting any codes?

Okay so we just push started it again and i gave it gas to keep the rpms up. Car stayed on, but it would not idle. I had to keep it giving it gas for it to stay on. i drove it but did not take it out of first gear. Everytime I let up on the throttle the car really pulled up like I was applying the brakes, a result from it not idling I guess. When I pulled back around to park, I had to lift off the gas and apply the brake. It died right away.

I tried to restart it and no dice. What the hell is wrong with this thing. Something electrical controlling the fuel and whatever starts the car?

Did you check for codes? There should probably be some stored...

Car stayed on, but it would not idle

Mines doing the same but its an a4

Just checked for codes and there weren't any. F'ing tow is $175 to tow it to the shop that normally works on my car. Damn, I'm almost tempted to just drive the damn thing up there without lifting off the throttle, it would require some fancy footwork, but really $175? Im gonna try jumping it with a truck and see if that makes any sort of difference. Maybe the battery just doesn't have enough juice to keep the car running right, after i push started it? I don't know. If any one has any ideas please feel free to make my day!

Just one more curiosity - does this happen when you are in neutral?

Yes I've tried starting it in neutral as well. Next step I'm going to try is throwing the battery in from our avalanche, it's pretty new. I hope that it works that way I can buy a new optima and be done with it.

Bam!!!! Our trucks battery worked, car fired right up! No idle issues, drives perfect! Before I drop the $190 on the new Optima yellowtop, I'm having them charge it and retest it. SO happy it's not anything else! Thanks for the help guys!!!! wssix99 the V8/truck jumping comment is what gave me the idea of using the battery out of the truck. Thanks again!

Might wanna check that alternator too.

You had classic symptoms of a bad battery.

May I suggest a $100.00 AC Delco 78-7yr........50 month free replacement, 84 month pro-rated.

Its a beast.

.

:( ^^^ +1

If you run that truck battery in there for a while, I think its going to die. You don't really need the battery once the car is running. It sounds you have a limp alternator, which isn't putting out enough juice to fire the car, and isn't charging your battery enough.

What does the volt gauge say on your dash when the car is running?

Put a new optima yellow top in, car feels like it fires up with a little more authority than before. Old yellow top was charged then tested and it only held 84% of a full charge, so I replaced it. I drove the car around for a while and everything is cherry. Volt meter shows right at or slightly under 14 while I'm driving, both
with the truck battery and the new yellow top.

My car runs at a tad over 15. I don't know if that is normal or not. No problems though. It's been like that as long as I have had it so about 3 years now.

I also have an underdrive pulley so that will limit it some. The Optima had been going strong for about 5 years though, I also have a pretty big audio system that doesn't really help the battery last as long. Oh well, I'm just glad it wasn't a PCM problem or some loose wire that would have taken forever to find.

Very interesting. Are you also running a stock alternator?

Yes sir I am.

With your under drive pulley and stereo, I wonder if you might benefit from a larger alternator? I'd expect your car to keep going on the alternator even if the battery is shot.

Ya thats the only thing i cant figure out, I'm thinking that amybe since the car had no power maybe the PCM was trying to go back to normal and for some reason it couldn't hold idle when we push started it. If memory serves the alt has never been changed and the car has 205,XXX miles, so when it does finally crap out I'll go bigger. What kind of alt would fit my car and be bigger?