Dead battery?? Or is it....

[romycha1]

Let me start from the beginning..

The car got a new battery some time last year, but sat around for most of the time till a few weeks ago. Well, just like anyone could imagine, the car had a dead battery and needed to be jumped. No problem, we have a jump-box.
I didn't know this, but everytime my wife or her younger brother drove the car, the battery would be dead when they would shut it off, they remedied this by always carrying the jump-box in the car. Easy fix right... if the battery is always going dead, then it's probably the alternator... well, that's what I thought.

Well, last week they tried to jump the car with the jump-box but it was a no go.
I pulled the battery out, filled the cells with water, checked all the fuse, and they were all good.
This time instead of the jump-box, I pulled my car around and tried to jump it with my car. I connected the cables, and waited about a minute cause the battery in the NB was completely dead. I put the key in the ignition and saw the instrument lights come one, so I tried to crank it. I got a tiny tiny tiny start of a crank then everything just died. No instrument lights or anything else was working. I checked the fuses inside and out and they are all good.

Any ideas as to what the problem may be?

[gforce1108]

Could be either the battery or the alternator - probably the battery if there were no other problems while driving the car.

Charge up the battery (or get a new one), start the car and put a voltmeter across the battery terminals. 13-14v means the alternator is working. Less than 12 and it's toast.

[romycha1]

Originally Posted by gforce1108

Could be either the battery or the alternator - probably the battery if there were no other problems while driving the car.

Charge up the battery (or get a new one), start the car and put a voltmeter across the battery terminals. 13-14v means the alternator is working. Less than 12 and it's toast.

That's the problem, the battery won't charge up. When I have jumper cables on it, there is no power flowing through the electrical system.

[gforce1108]

Charge it up with a battery charger, not jumper cables (nice trickle charge overnight, if possible).

[romycha1]

WOOT!!! Easier than pie..

Turns out the battery still had a warranty, Autozone swapped it out for me, turns out the battery was uber bad. I popped the new battery in, and the car started right away... sounded horribly rough, but it started.

... hopefully it'll start up tomorrow.

Now.... ON TO THE MODDING!!!

[gforce1108]

I'd still check the alternator, just to be sure. It could have overheated trying to charge the dead battery.