Vehicle was fine....come to start 5 minutes later and everything dead! - Loose wire!

[TheNinja]

What is going on? Nothing electrical works. I can't imagine a battery would go completely dead in an instant like that. I don't understand how it would g completely dead is the 5 minutes I was away from the vehicle. No lights, no power locks, etc.

update: got news that the vehicle was "whining" on the drive. after sitting there a while trying to get it to work, then at the last minute the person got out of the car to walk home, hit the power locks, and they worked! Then got back in to start the car and it was just "click".
It makes me think the alternator died (hence the whining) and killed the batter. Then as the car sat there the battery gained a little charge, enough to run the locks, then died again.
Either that or a loose wire.

update: 10/19 - I tightened the wires on the battery and it fired right up. I'm keeping this battery for a few more days just in case the one in my vehicle is dying but as of now everything seems perfectly fine!

 

[fstime]

What if your alternator died and was not charging your battery?

 

[TheNinja]

What if your alternator died and was not charging your battery?

That could be the scenario I guess. I wasn't driving the car but the person driving it said it was "whining" which could be the alternator I guess. However the driving time was like 15 minutes. So could it start up, driving 15 minutes, and just die instantly like that if it was not charging?

 

[MrA79]

Had a bad battery on my old Mustang that caused similar issues, but it would still try to crank before the good old tick-tick-tick would start.

Checked the cables\terminals, I assume?

Will it jump?

 

[BUTCH1]

What make/model/year car is this?. I've had a battery that developed an internal short that did this, start with the basics, what voltage (if any) is present at the battery terminals?..

 

[TheNinja]

What make/model/year car is this?.

2000 GMC K2500 pickup

 

[BUTCH1]

2000 GMC K2500 pickup

Have you checked the battery voltage?

 

[TheNinja]

Thanks for suggestions so far guys. I'll have to go check it out. I'm not close to the vehicle at the moment and was trying to see if I could walk the person who is close through some things, but she'll never be able to understand it -

I hope it's just a loose wire, bad battery, or the alternator b/c I can fix that stuff no problem. I've never replaced an ignition switch though.

 

[CraigRT]

I have definitely seen a battery die that way before.
Stopped at a friends place, was going to stay for a while but ended up deciding we would go out for food, about 10-15 mins later. Car would not crank or anything at all, flat dead. New battery fixed it, alternator was fine.

 

[mvbighead]

I have definitely seen a battery die that way before.
Stopped at a friends place, was going to stay for a while but ended up deciding we would go out for food, about 10-15 mins later. Car would not crank or anything at all, flat dead. New battery fixed it, alternator was fine.

Basically the same thing. Stopped for a softball game, popped the trunk to get a few things, no problem. Sat around talking for a while. Hopped back in, battery was dead. Got the car jumped and got all sorts of electrical gremlins on the drive home. Replaced, good to go.

 

[TheNinja]

update: got news that the vehicle was "whining" on the drive. after sitting there a while trying to get it to work, then at the last minute the person got out of the car to walk home, hit the power locks, and they worked! Then got back in to start the car and it was just "click".
It makes me think the alternator died (hence the whining) and killed the batter. Then as the car sat there the battery gained a little charge, enough to run the locks, then died again.
Either that or a loose wire.

 

[slag]

What if I told you that your battery was the culprit?

Definitely bad cell(s) in the battery.

 

[TheNinja]

What if I told you that your battery was the culprit?

Definitely bad cell(s) in the battery.

I would be thrilled b/c it's one of the cheaper and easier things for me to fix

I wonder what the "whining" noise was then if not the alternator. Probably just something else in there that's squeaky maybe?

I'm just surprised that the vehicle started one time, then suddenly everything was dead the next time (like 5 minutes later). Usually I notice even bad batteries will at least power the lights and locks it just won't turn the car over.

 

[slag]

There are many things it could be. I had a battery this summer that would work most of the time but sometimes would just fail to work and after a quick charge, would work for a bit. I had a cell in the battery that was failing, and after swapping out the battery, worked great. Exhibited same issues you have.

 

[phucheneh]

...check the battery voltage. All advice is pretty worthless until then.

If it's dead, take it to the parts store and let them try and charge it and use their tester on it. Proceed from there.

 

[TheNinja]

I tightened the wires on the battery and it fired right up. I'm keeping this battery for a few more days just in case the one in my vehicle is dying but as of now everything seems perfectly fine!

The sad part is anyone with basic knowledge of a vehicle could have checked this. Instead the person couldn't get the hood open, didn't know what a battery even looked like if she could, and didn't know how to tighten a battery cable if she knew what it was. So she had to walk 45 minutes home, then run back and forth again b/c of an appointment. A simple grasp of how a vehicle works could have borrow a pliers and fixed it in 5 minutes. I also now realize I need to keep pliers and 2 screwdrivers in each vehicle.

 

[slag]

I tightened the wires on the battery and it fired right up. I'm keeping this battery for a few more days just in case the one in my vehicle is dying but as of now everything seems perfectly fine!

The sad part is anyone with basic knowledge of a vehicle could have checked this. Instead the person couldn't get the hood open, didn't know what a battery even looked like if she could, and didn't know how to tighten a battery cable if she knew what it was. So she had to walk 45 minutes home, then run back and forth again b/c of an appointment. A simple grasp of how a vehicle works could have borrow a pliers and fixed it in 5 minutes. I also now realize I need to keep pliers and 2 screwdrivers in each vehicle.

I guess many of us, myself included, kind of assume people have already checked the obvious like loose wires on the battery. I mean, if the car doesn't click when you try to turn it over, you pop the hood and look at the battery first and wiggle the connections. It is basic troubleshooting 101. From there, we start to give opinions, examples of past times when cars haven't started, but generally I think 99% of the population, women included, would have wiggled the battery connections and checked to see if anything was loose.

 

[dtgoodwin]

Those side post terminals on GM vehicles are a blessing and a curse. They do lessen corrosion, but the if they aren't 100% tight, current capacity goes away. And it and come and go without even appearing loose. I'm not surprised at the whining and it likely was the alternator unhappy that the battery didn't have a good connection. They don't like it when there is no battery or when there's virtually no connection to it.

 

[TheNinja]

I guess many of us, myself included, kind of assume people have already checked the obvious like loose wires on the battery. I mean, if the car doesn't click when you try to turn it over, you pop the hood and look at the battery first and wiggle the connections. It is basic troubleshooting 101. From there, we start to give opinions, examples of past times when cars haven't started, but generally I think 99% of the population, women included, would have wiggled the battery connections and checked to see if anything was loose.

Ya sorry, I probably wasn't clear. I was 30 miles away and my woman was explaining what was happening. I tried to tell her to open the hood and check the wire connectivity but

1. She didn't know how to open the hood
2. She didn't know where the battery was
3. At that point there was no way she'd know what/how to tighten a connection, especially without endangering herself.

 

[desy]

Geez had the same issue w a guy I went to school w for electronic eng tech.
One of the smartest guys in the class asks me to come see why his car won't start.
Posts corroded all to shit and busted bolt on the connector, went up stairs got some baking soda cleaned them up some and drove a wood screw down to tighten the connection til he could get some parts. . .