Wahooz

So I drop in a new Kinetik HC1400 battery and drive around for the better half of the day. As I'm pulling into my garage at the end of the night (after accruing about 80 miles with multiple start/stop cycles), my car starts to die as I creep forward in first gear into my parking spot. The car then stalls and as I try to restart the car, it goes from a slowing turnover to no turnover at all and just a click. The click is accompanied by a dimming of the headlights each time. It's a single loud click and all the gauges and radio still work. I turn off the car and check the battery voltage...it's at 13.06 so I'm assuming the battery is still good. BTW, I'm not running any type of huge sound system...just Alpine headunit and 4 speakers...no amps or subs. I tried starting again, but just the click and dimmed headlights. Check the battery again and it's still at 13.00 volts. Does this sound like the starter? And if so, why would the car die while it was running (again, it died while I was creeping the car forward in my garage). I didn't stall the car, it just died b/c I had the clutch fully depressed when it cut out. Please help!

shotgunjimmy

i dont have much advice for you, except to make sure the connectoins are still good and tight. im pretty sure youve checked that though.

jeggy

have the battery load tested. then check your charging system.
your battery is obviously dead. it has the volts to illuminate the lights but not enough amps to energize the starter.
why would a brand new starter die in less then a days use? most likely because the charging system is not working properly.

teanza

check 2 make sure it's not shorting-out on the hood or something (i.e. tall terminals).

gl!

~tina~

one_slows2k

are you able to push start the car? (might be hard since you are in a garage).. but if you can and it starts, then its the starter. Same thing happened to me, found out its a loose connection to the solenoid i believe... I stucked my hand underneath there (from the top) and feeling my way through, i pushed it in. Then started normally.

gl

Tgr_Ree

I would agree with jeggy. Although you have 13 volts does not mean the battery has enough amps to start the car. You can take the battery to a local auto supply shop and they can place a load test on the battery. I would check the charging system after you charge the battery.

Wahooz

Thanks for all the replies...well, I had the battery tested at both Autozone and Advanced Auto and they both said the battery is no good. This is the third battery I've gone thru in just days. The first two were Walmart specials so I just returned them, but this one was a Kinetik HC1400. I can't imagine I have just gotten 3 bum batteries in a row so I'm assuming my alternator is at fault. Thing is, if the alternator were at fault, wouldn't it simply discharge the batteries rather than killing them altogether? In each of the 3 batteries, I was told they were bad batteries that could not be charged (and they tried w/ no success). Could my alternator be killing batteries like this??

ronnuke

When you get a new battery and get it started again, check to see what the voltage is on the battery while the car is running.....should be 14.7V or so while running indicating alternator properly charging your battery. It is not common but does happen that alternator can kill the battery and vice versa. HTH

D_Spec

when you get your new battery.. start the car and while its running disconnect the battery and see if it continues to run while turning on the lights and tapping brakes and such.

Wahooz

thanks again for the suggestions...I went ahead and pulled the alternator out today and had it tested at two different shops and both said the alternator was good! I'm at a loss now...I thought the alternator was definitely the culprit, but now I'm back to square one I've got another battery on order so I'll try some of the suggestions when it comes in although based on the alternator tests today, seems like they may be futile. I've followed both the positive and negative battery cables and there are no cuts in the line so if it's grounding out somewhere, it's not in the engine bay. Also, I've got both terminals covered w/ rubber boots, plus my hood liner is intact, so I know it's not grounding out on the hood. This is really blowing my mind...if anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears... thanks again!