Yeah.... It's not the battery. It's gotta be the alternator. If you just replaced the battery and you can't even jump it now, that means the alternator is completely frozen now. This is assuming you have absolutely no power. Try charging the battery for a while before you try to start the engine. If you manage to start it again, look at the alternator and see if it's turning. If it isn't, you only have power from the battery, and that won't last very long.
And if it's not the alternator or the battery, then you have a short somewhere. Unless your starter motor's not working. What do you mean when you say it won't start? Will the starter turn over? Will it go, "whrrr whrrrr whrrr"? Or will you turn the key and nothing? After you changed out the battery, did the car ever start?
Use a frigging voltmeter, man! If you can get the car to start by using jumper cables (eventually), then measure the voltage across the alternator. It should be, like, what? Usually 14 volts?
I'm really hoping that I don't have to take it to a mechanic... we really can't afford it right now so all it would do is just add more debt to my credit card.
And it's actually really weird... no, my engine isn't turning. Nothing happens. But when I open the car door... and this is with no key and no turning or anything... my gauges twitch slightly and it sounds like my turn signal is going off. Weird...
Try calling a few mechanics around town and let them know what you can pay. In these trying times, a lot of shops would rather have your business at terms you dictate as opposed to no business at all.
I'd look it up online first. It still sounds like a dead battery pulsing out that last bit of juice every time you open the door. And if a new battery is died that quickly, it wasn't receiving a charge. Most often the alternator, but yeah, if you can get it started, check it visually, then check it with a voltmeter if you can, see where it stops. If you go online, you can get some good diagrams and you may find out it's really easy to access and replace anything that needs to be done.
So after going to the local auto parts store and testing various things, we've determined that it's not the charging system... the battery is receiving more than enough charge while the car is running. And once the battery was charged, it started with absolutely no problems.
So I'm thinking parasitic draw... which blows. Megan's dad is a huge car person so hopefully he'll be able to talk me through the tedious process of finding out where my car is drawing power when it's turned off.
EDIT: Oh, and many thanks for all your suggestions. I really appreciate the help. =D
MY GIRLFRIEND IS IN A PIPE BAND AND THEY OFTEN PLAY PARADES. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO PLAY AT A PARADE AT 9:00 THIS MORNING AT A TOWN THAT'S AN HOUR AND A HALF AWAY. I COULDN'T SLEEP LAST NIGHT AND ENDED UP FINALLY GETTING TO SLEEP A LITTLE BEFORE 5:30 AM. I WOKE UP AT 6:30 TO FIND THAT IT WAS RAINING, WE WEREN'T SURE IF THE PARADE WOULD BE CANCELED AND DIDN'T WANT TO NOT SHOW UP IF IT WASN'T. WE TRIED CALLING OTHER PEOPLE IN THE BAND TO SEE IF IT WAS CANCELED BUT THEY NO HAD HEARD ANYTHING. ANYWAY, WE DRIVE AND FIND OUT THAT THE PARADE HAS BEEN CANCELED WHEN WE WERE ABOUT 10 MINUTES AWAY. END RESULT: 1 HOUR OF SLEEP, 3 HOURS OF DRIVING IN THE RAIN, AND A WASTED HALF TANK OF GAS. WONDERFUL.
YOU MANAGED TO GO THIS LONG WITHOUT GETTING PINK EYE? SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING PEOPLE USUALLY GET AS LITTLE KIDS.
I'VE HAD PINK EYE QUITE A FEW TIMES, IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU ONLY GET ONCE IN YOUR LIFE AND THEN YOU'RE IMMUNE TO IT. I SURE WISH IT WAS THOUGH!
BOO DRIVING IN THE RAIN FOR NO REASON ON VERY LITTLE SLEEP. AT LEAST YOU HAD YOUR GIRLFRIEND TO DRIVE WITH! ROAD TRIPS ARE ALWAYS A LOT LONGER WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANYONE TO TALK TO.
I JUST HAD TO UNTANGLE A FOOLISH HORSE WHO ATTEMPTED TO JUMP A CRUDDY SECTION OF BARB-WIRE FENCE AND GOT ITS LEGS TANGLED IN THE WIRE. IT WENT WELL ENOUGH BUT I NEED TO REMEMBER TO TIE UP THE DOG FIRST. THE DOG REALLY LIKES TO BARK AND CHASE AND BOTH DOG AND FRIGHTENED HORSE ARE FASTER THAN ME. I AM QUITE TIRED NOW.
THAT REMINDS ME OF A STORY MY PROFESSOR TOLD ME YESTERDAY ABOUT TEDDY ROOSEVELT BRINGING HIS HORSES TO CUBA BUT IT'S LONG AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE TYPING IT.
I got a text from a number I didn't recognize saying "IM BORED! GAHGRGLE HALP DA MANATEESE OHH DA MANATEESE". I hate random texts from people I don't know, especially considering that I don't have unlimited texting.
Haha, that's awesome. Halp da manatees. Good cause.
I'm always afraid to send dirty text messages because I'm worried I'll accidentally send it to the wrong person at some point. That would be veeeery embarrassing.
Haha, that's awesome. Halp da manatees. Good cause.
I'm always afraid to send dirty text messages because I'm worried I'll accidentally send it to the wrong person at some point. That would be veeeery embarrassing.
Sorry Aunt Edna I didn't mean that I would actually do that to your... that.
Last night's trip to the bar by myself resulted in five middle aged Hong Kong men speaking to me in Japanese and trying to hook me up with a Hong Kong lover. The two young girls they talked to were so afraid of them (or me?) that they fled the bar without finishing their drinks, but the gay waiter one guy tried to hook me up was more than interested. My life is a cruel joke.
Comments
Use a frigging voltmeter, man! If you can get the car to start by using jumper cables (eventually), then measure the voltage across the alternator. It should be, like, what? Usually 14 volts?
Or go to a mechanic. Specialization of tasks worked for our bodies, I like to think it worked for our societies, too.
And it's actually really weird... no, my engine isn't turning. Nothing happens. But when I open the car door... and this is with no key and no turning or anything... my gauges twitch slightly and it sounds like my turn signal is going off. Weird...
So I'm thinking parasitic draw... which blows. Megan's dad is a huge car person so hopefully he'll be able to talk me through the tedious process of finding out where my car is drawing power when it's turned off.
EDIT: Oh, and many thanks for all your suggestions. I really appreciate the help. =D
BOO DRIVING IN THE RAIN FOR NO REASON ON VERY LITTLE SLEEP. AT LEAST YOU HAD YOUR GIRLFRIEND TO DRIVE WITH! ROAD TRIPS ARE ALWAYS A LOT LONGER WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANYONE TO TALK TO.
I'm always afraid to send dirty text messages because I'm worried I'll accidentally send it to the wrong person at some point. That would be veeeery embarrassing.
Sorry Aunt Edna I didn't mean that I would actually do that to your... that.
Just saying.