Wife went out to go to work early this morning and the Van wouldn't start. Didn't appear to be any lights left on or doors ajar. I went out shortly after and measured the battery at 12.4v. Tried to start it and just a single click with no revs from starter. Charged for an hour while I got ready for work and started right up. Didn't have a chance to measure running voltage while it was running so I can't rule out the Alternator just yet. I did take the kids to the drive in Friday night and ran the stereo for almost 2 hours without the car running but the car started right up when the movie was over. Any thoughts/predictions so far? Battery is 16 months old. My money is on alternator but I guess the starter being intermittent is a possibility too.
Battery, Alternator, or Starter?
- Thread starter jayjr1105
- Start date
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
Could be any of them it sounds to me like. Since you weren’t driving though I’m not sure if it’s the alternator. One way to test the starter is tap it with a hammer or something heavy then if it starts you know it’s bad. Battery should test right at 12.6 though.
I assume this is the 2005 Odyssey in your signature? Could be a bad ground somewhere that only acts up sometimes on a car that is over 15 years old.
I'd put the battery on a taper charger and bring it up to max. Then check charging voltage. Then check main ground connections by removing, cleaning at reattaching. Ed
Gotta do the flow charts. Gotta measure the voltage along the "time line". That means, a. whilst starting, b. during operation, c. upon shut down, d. an hour or two later, e. the next morning.
As above: all connections
You're on it.
As above: all connections
You're on it.
I have had odd things happen with Subaru Forester where battery was dead and I could not find anything I had left on. Charged the battery and it was fine. Get the battery and alternator tested.
I feel there was something I had left on but never figured out what.
I feel there was something I had left on but never figured out what.
I have the heater coil style battery tester but had to leave for work this morning so I didn't get to properly test it. Also, alternator testing is as simple as testing running voltage where you should see at least 13.5v correct?
How often are you driving the vehicle?
You said you had 2 hours of running accessories at the drive in on Friday. How much driving since then? I presume you drove home in the dark. Is it possible that you didn't really have a chance to get a full charge, etc.
Or yeah, one of the kiddos (or you) left something on. I do it. In fact, I do it so much, I swapped most of my interior and trunk lighting bulbs to LED bulbs so they draw about 10% of the current.
It appears you have a good plan of attack. Make sure all the connections are still clean and good. Then test battery and alternator to start with.
You said you had 2 hours of running accessories at the drive in on Friday. How much driving since then? I presume you drove home in the dark. Is it possible that you didn't really have a chance to get a full charge, etc.
Or yeah, one of the kiddos (or you) left something on. I do it. In fact, I do it so much, I swapped most of my interior and trunk lighting bulbs to LED bulbs so they draw about 10% of the current.
It appears you have a good plan of attack. Make sure all the connections are still clean and good. Then test battery and alternator to start with.
I replaced all interior bulbs to LED too. it was exactly 1/7th the power used. I measured current for each.
Wife drives this 40 miles round trip to work every day. Drove Sunday a few times no issues.
If the ride from the drive-in was short and the car wasn't driven since then, it could be that you just deeply drained the battery at the drive-in and the parasitic drain over the weekend was enough to prevent startup. Top it off with a full charge and it could be fine.
A 12.4v battery will start a vehicle, or at least crank it. A failed alternator may lead to an undercharged battery but not an intermittent start condition as described.
Good luck in finding the cause. Intermittent problems are the worst. Hopefully for you and your wallet, it is just some corrosion and you can get it sorted with nothing more than a little clean up.
I think for an alternator test you go to fast idle then put more and more load on the system and see if alternator can keep up (voltage stays over 13.5V).
My Midtronics clone battery and alternator tester can test the charging system also.
A carbon pile load tested is the best as you can just start increasing the load little by little.
I'm afraid it's parasitic draw. In my work clothes I did some quick tests while home at lunch. Voltage at 14.5 when car running however forgot to load it with accessories to see if it held up above 13.5v. As soon as I took it off the charger and watched the multimeter, I could slowly see the voltage drop off. Hooked up an Amp clamp and it's drawing 700mA with nothing turned on. Also, here is the video of the voltage on a startup sequence. https://photos.app.goo.gl/rYzHKKREqeh9e9kU7
disconnect the alternator and see if the draw continues
yes if one of the rectifier diodes is shorted
