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YACT: Car won't start

MDE

MDE

Lifer
My 94 Hyundai Excel all of a sudden won't start. Clutch to the floor, turn the key and nothing happens at all. No dash lights, no noises at all. I tried to jump it and same thing.

The car worked fine the last time I drove it, and my brother claims he didn't do anything to it when he drove it today. It has a month-old battery, so that shouldn't be an issue (especially considering jumping it did nothing). Any suggestions?

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you said no dash lights... what about headlights or parking lights?

edit: basically anything that isn't controlled by the ignition switch.
 
1) Battery cables are tight, just made sure.
2) No lights of any kind whatsoever
3) Alternator looks OK to me (FWIW)
4) Fuse box? D'oh! I'll check that now...

EDIT: Fuses were all fine.
 
Originally posted by: drum
Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Have you checked to make sure that your alternator is not made of beef?
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lmao
always buy alternators in bulk :thumbsup:
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This is the first time this has happened, when I replaced the battery it slowly died and it was -10F outside.
 
Originally posted by: MDE
brother claims he didn't do anything to it when he drove it today.
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Heh. Brothers always say that.
Most likely, as a result of something he did (or forgot to do), the battery totally got drained. You can not jump a totally dead battery. You have to slow charge it.
 
Originally posted by: SuperSix
No headlights, no power at all? Try moving/reseating the battery cables.
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I'd say the connections to the battery are suspect, especially since they were recently disturbed by installation of a new battery.

First step is check for voltage at the battery, then start tracing away from it. Multimeter on both poles of the battery. Then multimeter the positive and known grounded body part - almost any exposed bolt in the engine bay should do.

If you get nothing at the battery, then you got a dud battery.

If you get something at the battery, and nothing between battery & body, then start checking cables.
 
Check voltage between the battery post and the cable still connected to it. That will tell you if there is a bad connection.
 
My car's battery kept getting mysteriously drained a few months ago. Jump starting didn't work for me either the one time I tried it. Had to use a battery charger to get it back to working condition each time. Apparently there is some sort of short in the seat belt system, because I eventually figured out that if I pop that fuse out everything is fine. Obviously the odds of it being the same thing are low, but a short somewhere is possible and easy to check.
 
I hooked it up to a battery charger and it wasn't dead (read 5.5 Amps) so the battery definitely isn't the issue, and I'm assuming that eliminates the alternator too.
 
Originally posted by: MDE
I hooked it up to a battery charger and it wasn't dead (read 5.5 Amps) so the battery definitely isn't the issue, and I'm assuming that eliminates the alternator too.
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Why would you NOT have lights if you're battery is still good? are the connections leading from the battery okay? Are there any disconnects anywhere?
 
He just said the battery checked out good. It could be the ground wire for the battery. Trace the negative wire back to where it bolts to the chassis or the engine block and make sure it hasn't come off. Unless you've blown like the master fuse in the fuse panel under the hood, I can't think of anything else that would cause these symptoms if the battery were still good. I'm thinking it's wiring and probably wiring right at the battery. Another thing you can do is to get a new ground wire at Autozone and run it directly to a bolt on the body or chassis. The wiring on my Contour is a smaller gauge and as a work around for dimming lights if you've got a big amp/stereo is to upgrade the ground wire or just run another thicker gauge wire from the negative battery terminal to the body or chassis.
 
Well, if you just got a new battery, and it's dead already, I would get the alternator tested. I've swapped out several dead alternators, and there have been no aesthetic signs of death. It's not like the alternator is going to explode and pummel your engine compartment with shrapnel.
 
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