Help! Car doesn't want to start...

[Rasco]

Theres something wrong with my car..I have to always jumpstart it. The car runs fine tho'. I dont know if its the alternator or the starter? but If I turn off the car and I wait 5 minutes...i could start it again. But if it has been sitting for a while it wont start. the alternator seems to be charging fine...the battery is being drained while its off. Any ideas? Thanks for your help

[alex]

do you have any acceseries on the inside that are turned on that you dun know about?

ie.....aftermarket stereo....some sort of light....anything?

[Nick]

either a pretty strong parasite, or your battery isn`t holding a charge anymore, i`d try putting in another battery

[5Sfte]

I second a new battery!

[88camry]

I have the same problem, but then again my car has over 330k Km on it, but from a troubleshooting point of view, you may not have the same problem.

Get a Digital Volt meter if you don't already have one. Get something cheap not a $400 flukes. You can get one for around $20+

Check the charge of the battery it must have 12.6V = 100% state of charge with Specific gravity of 1.270

12.4V = 75%
12.2V = 50%
12.0V = 25%
11.8V = 0%

Does your startor make a sound when you try to crank the engine over? (clicking)

You also said that it turned over after you jump start it, does it start everytime you jump start it? If yes, there's nothing wrong with your stator at all. It takes alot of power to crank the engine...ALOT. So much that sometimes old batteries can't supply or cheap batteries - get batteries have the right CA (cranking amps) or CCA (Cold cranking amps) for your car. If you are jump starting a car, you are basically connecting 2 batteries in a series - you still have 12V, but 2X the cranking power.

You can bring a dead battery to life again with a charger, if you can find a shop or NAPA or anywhere that can charge your battery for you, then you save lots of money. Make sure you see him charging it and not replacing your battery with another old one... How cold is it where you live? Temp. makes a great difference.

A battery has plates and liquid inside and the acid is what makes electicity when a demand is there. Over time the plates will begin to sulfate or sometimes the fillings from the battery collects on the bottom and it shorts out the battery... now you see how it is really hard to visually look at the battery and say what is wrong. Again, I am only assuming that your battery is the problem and nothing else.

I have this problem because I did ran stereo equip. and it does drain battery big time. If you bought your car used, make sure that there are no other wires connected to the positive terminal (cathode) other than the OEM wires that are going to the fuses.

So check your CA or CCA, it must meet Toyota's Specs for that car.... Tell us more after you ran the test...

[odbII]

I had the same problem the dome light would drain the battery after a few mins. I replaced the battery and I've had no problems since.

[zoni]

new battery.

way to check in the alternator is charging... test the battery with a multimeter. before turning the car on, the battery should be between 11.8 and 12.8 about. when the car is runnig and the alternator is working properly, the voltage should vary between 13.8 and maybe 15 depending on RPMs.

[90CamryDx3SFE]

Originally posted by Zoni_Camry
new battery.

way to check in the alternator is charging... test the battery with a multimeter. before turning the car on, the battery should be between 11.8 and 12.8 about. when the car is runnig and the alternator is working properly, the voltage should vary between 13.8 and maybe 15 depending on RPMs.

I was told an alternator shouldn't put out more than 14.2 volts... Hmmm... strange.

[zoni]

very strange since a standard accepted running voltage is 14.4 volts............. look at every audio product, it will say something about 14.4 volts.

[Hook]

yup, 14.4V it is...I just checked mine...read 12.45V before starting and 14.37V on idle and remained within 0.02V of that no matter how high I revved it.

With everything electrical on (high beams, rear defogger, blower, dome light/trunk light, stereo, wipers, hazzard lights, engine cooling fan) it dropped to back to 12.45V.

Does that seem healthy enough or should I have mine checked out too?

[5Sfte]

Originally posted by 'rollaholic
With everything electrical on (high beams, rear defogger, blower, dome light/trunk light, stereo, wipers, hazzard lights, engine cooling fan) it dropped to back to 12.45V.

Does that seem healthy enough or should I have mine checked out too?

After turning on all these accesories, did you measure voltage at idle and while revving it?

[Rasco]

Thanks guys! Yeah..it was the battery. I bought a new one and everything works fine now. Thanks again for all your help.

[Hook]

Originally posted by 5Sfte
After turning on all these accesories, did you measure voltage at idle and while revving it?

well, when it dropped back to 12.45V I revved but not as high as when I turned them on...remained fairly steady

[5Sfte]

Originally posted by 'rollaholic
well, when it dropped back to 12.45V I revved but not as high as when I turned them on...remained fairly steady

I'll have to do a test on mine and see what the results are. I'll get back to you.

[zoni]

Glad to hear you got everything running properly again!