Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi Roland.
Last night I lost all power on my car.
I stopped, turned the ignition off could not restart. I have no dash lights (Except the oil light which barely glows and was only visible last night as it was dark when it went wrong).
I have checked the battery connections under the hood and also all the fuses. I cannot check the battery itself as it is located under the wheel (Stupid design). The battery was only replaced last August.
There is also a loud clicking noise coming from underneath the sterring wheel column. I believe this to be the relay located there. This is intermittent and occurs with or without the key in the ignition. The drivers door also whirr's. It sounds like the central locking system is trying to operate but dies nothing. This is also intermittent. Would it be the alternator or even worse?
Many thanks!
Answer -
Hi Gary,
I'm going to be tied up for about 5 hours this afternoon, but in the meantime, it would be good to get to the battery and disconnect it. If you have a volt-ohmmeter see what it is read across the terminal, voltage-wise. Then if you have the ohmmeter function read the resistance between the two battery cables as they stand then, disconnected, so we know what the battery is looking at (a dead short or a partial short or normal, may be a few hundred ohms). Then let me know and I'll be ready to give you some advice to move ahead from there.
Roland
Hi Roland.
I have no way of getting to the battery so I'll get it towed to the garage tomorrow. I may try jump starting the car first. If i can get it to start i can drive it there instead! I'm preparing myself for the alternator to be dead though. WIll let you know.
Many thanks
AnswerHi Gary,
The only question I have is how are you going to jump start it if you can't get to the battery? I guess you could jump it at the starter motor but that is perhaps not very accessible either. I don't know what the Sebring battery setup is: under which wheel is it located? Aside from the clicking and the door switch sounding and no dash lights does anything else work (like the lighting and the headlamps, the emergency flashers, the accessories)? I don't usually associate an alternator with such a shut down of the car as you described. If you could measure the voltage on the big wire that goes to the starter motor (as compared say to the engine block as the "ground") then we could get an idea if the battery is already quite dead. Even if it were, though, the question would be did it discharge because of a short in the circuitry or did it loose its voltage because the battery has a bad cell. that is why I thought it good to check the resistance across the battery cables when they are removed from the battery (which is also called the ignition off draw (IOD).
Roland
