udzzz

So basically what has happened is after returning from an international trip I left my S with its battery terminals disconnected. When I came back I reconnected my battery, the car had current but not enough to start the motor.

I then connected a car charger to it, which I thought was one that you could use to jump start the car with and tried to jump the car but no luck (this is where I think something bad happened).

I think got normal leads jumped the car and drove the car. Whilst driving I noticed the radio was cutting in and out so I turned the headlights on (I was told that would make sure the alternator was going) and the radio was fine after that. Once I got back home as soon as I turned the engine off it was as though there was zero current flowing through the car and it has failed to start since then.

I bought a car charger and charged the battery as well as have it tested at 13V.

Not sure what to do but I have looked at some of the fuses and noticed that the larger fuses including the 100A fuse has what looks like a small amount of green oxidation on it (not sure if this is related?).

Any ideas guys?

Gotpepsi

I think that when you disconnected the battery terminals and left for your international trip the battery just completely died; you didn't say that you put the battery on a tender or anything. With that said, a completely dead battery won't hold a charge even after you jumped the car and had the alternator charge the battery. The alternator is always running, because the belt is turning the device, turning on the headlights would of just put more strain on the alternator and cause it to work harder. This happens with my four wheeler all the time, once an old battery is left unattended for a certain period of time it'll just completely die. I think you can solve your problem with a new battery. Not much can happen to a parked car (well not necessary, but you didn't describe any other symptoms). Try purchasing or burrowing another battery from a car. I ran both bosch and an optima yellow top in my last s2000. The yellow top looked prettier. But both are just batteries and will do for a stock s2000.

udzzz

I thought it might be completely dead, but when I had it tested at the mechanics with the voltmeter or whatever it is they use it was still saying it had charge which is why I am confused.

flanders

A bad battery can show ok voltage with no load.
If you measure the voltage while trying to start the car you will probably see the voltage drop very low.

03suzuka...s2000

^ What he said. Try a new battery.

DeeKay

Even though the battery may be fully charged (12.6v) the more important factor is the cold cranking amps. If you have voltage pressure with low current it won't be enough to operate the load it requires to start the vehicle. I'd load test the battery.

Once you get the vehicle running at idle, with a volt meter connected to the appropriate battery terminals, verify that the voltage is roughly 13.5v to 15v, this will tell you if the alternator is working.

udzzz

So I got a new battery and it didn't work. I then connected jumper leads to bypass the terminals from the car and that pretty much diagnosed the problem. There was a build up of oxidization on the inside of the negative terminal which I assume was blocking the flow of current. Scrapped it out and cleaned it with some rust dissolver to get it shiny and worked a treat. Car started no problems and I returned the new battery.

Thanks for the help!