MannyC
Enthusiast
Car wont start -- can\'t be jumped -- dead! What is up?
I got back from a 4 day trip where I drove my car through 110 degree weather from San Diego to Las Vegas. This is a 1994 RT/10 I bought not too long ago with the SVSi stroker motor.
Two things happened. First, a little info: On the way to Las Vegas (a 5 hour trip from San Diego) the engine temp gauge did get in the yellow -- outside it was hot, about 110 degrees according to the big outside thermometer in Baker, and we were going up a hill for miles and miles and only able to go up to 20 MPH then had to stop, then speed up then stop due to traffic, etc. No problems there.
On the way back from Vegas, traffic was at a near stand still. Engine temp was warmer than normal, but not in the yellow. However, out of the blue, the car starts loping real hard, nearly dies -- Clutch in and I gas it to get RMP's up, but even with the gas pedal in, it revs for a second, then nearly dies, then revs again, then nearly dies. I shift from 1st into second quickly and again try to get the RPM's up, but the car is going crazy. As quickly as I can I get over to the left lane and pull over into the shoulder, which so happened to be about 5 feet wide due to construction divider blocks, so my car is sticking out into the lane. Car dues just as I get over there. Trying to start the car results in a few sputters then dies. I call AAA and they dispatch a truck. We're told it will be an hour or so due to how slow traffic is moving. Sun is beating down on us like no other -- feels like 115 degrees and we don't have a roof. CHP pulls over and talks to us for a while and also calls AAA. At this point we had been sitting there for about 20 mins. The cop is about to leave while we wait for the tow truck, so I decide to try to start it one last time. VROOOM, it starts up and is running normal. I ask the cop if he is going to be going our way for a while and he says yes, so I ask him if he can follow us in case it dies again. Luckily for us, we make the remaining 2 hour drive home without further incident -- car ran like a champ. OK, so I don't know what caused that. Based on what happened, it seemed like the car flooded itself and then after sitting for a while, it started up fine. The temp gauge was never in the yellow so I don't think it had to do with the engine overheating.
OK, so now the part of the story that leads up to why I am posting this. We parked the car about 5pm yesterday and this morning I go out to start it and it is dead. So dead that there isn't even a clickity clickity sound from the starter. The Radar detector wont even turn on. I run jumper cables from my F150 to the Viper and RING RING RING, my radar detector springs to life. Apparantly I had left it turned on overnight and sometime over that 16 hour span, the battery had drained out due to it. I thought this was odd since I have the same radar detector (Valentine One) in my Z06 and I have left it on in there for days without issue. Anyway, I try to crank the car and I get a about 1 second of engine turn before I use up the juice and it wont crank any more. I let it sit for a couple mins and do the same thing with the same results. I let the truck run for about 30 mins to charge up the viper using the terminal posts in the front of the car, and when I come back and try to start it, same result. Damn strange. I remove the jumpers and the car is absolutely dead again. It didn't charge at all -- nada! I borrowed my neighbors car starter which puts out 75 amps and still wouldn't start. I then hooked up my battery trickle charger (12 amps) and the light is orange which according to the manual means that power is being applied to the terminal, but it cannot detect a battery, so no charge status can be displayed.
So what is up? Is the battery fried? Did I somehow lose a connection somewhere during the 10 hours of driving?
I was going to check the battery, but do you need to take off the rear wheel to do so? I don't have the manual to read up on it.
We had duffle bags in the trunk (totally full) but I don't see anything back there that might have come disconnected when pulling the bags. And it seems hard for me to believe that a radar detector would drain a battery in less than a day.
What should I do? I need to have West Coast Viper do some work on my car still, so I might just have it towed up tomorrow, althought I really wanted to drive it up there and not have to pay for the tow -- and my car is soooooo low that it is going to be tough to get on a tow truck, plus WCV's is about 40 mins away.
Help!
I got back from a 4 day trip where I drove my car through 110 degree weather from San Diego to Las Vegas. This is a 1994 RT/10 I bought not too long ago with the SVSi stroker motor.
Two things happened. First, a little info: On the way to Las Vegas (a 5 hour trip from San Diego) the engine temp gauge did get in the yellow -- outside it was hot, about 110 degrees according to the big outside thermometer in Baker, and we were going up a hill for miles and miles and only able to go up to 20 MPH then had to stop, then speed up then stop due to traffic, etc. No problems there.
On the way back from Vegas, traffic was at a near stand still. Engine temp was warmer than normal, but not in the yellow. However, out of the blue, the car starts loping real hard, nearly dies -- Clutch in and I gas it to get RMP's up, but even with the gas pedal in, it revs for a second, then nearly dies, then revs again, then nearly dies. I shift from 1st into second quickly and again try to get the RPM's up, but the car is going crazy. As quickly as I can I get over to the left lane and pull over into the shoulder, which so happened to be about 5 feet wide due to construction divider blocks, so my car is sticking out into the lane. Car dues just as I get over there. Trying to start the car results in a few sputters then dies. I call AAA and they dispatch a truck. We're told it will be an hour or so due to how slow traffic is moving. Sun is beating down on us like no other -- feels like 115 degrees and we don't have a roof. CHP pulls over and talks to us for a while and also calls AAA. At this point we had been sitting there for about 20 mins. The cop is about to leave while we wait for the tow truck, so I decide to try to start it one last time. VROOOM, it starts up and is running normal. I ask the cop if he is going to be going our way for a while and he says yes, so I ask him if he can follow us in case it dies again. Luckily for us, we make the remaining 2 hour drive home without further incident -- car ran like a champ. OK, so I don't know what caused that. Based on what happened, it seemed like the car flooded itself and then after sitting for a while, it started up fine. The temp gauge was never in the yellow so I don't think it had to do with the engine overheating.
OK, so now the part of the story that leads up to why I am posting this. We parked the car about 5pm yesterday and this morning I go out to start it and it is dead. So dead that there isn't even a clickity clickity sound from the starter. The Radar detector wont even turn on. I run jumper cables from my F150 to the Viper and RING RING RING, my radar detector springs to life. Apparantly I had left it turned on overnight and sometime over that 16 hour span, the battery had drained out due to it. I thought this was odd since I have the same radar detector (Valentine One) in my Z06 and I have left it on in there for days without issue. Anyway, I try to crank the car and I get a about 1 second of engine turn before I use up the juice and it wont crank any more. I let it sit for a couple mins and do the same thing with the same results. I let the truck run for about 30 mins to charge up the viper using the terminal posts in the front of the car, and when I come back and try to start it, same result. Damn strange. I remove the jumpers and the car is absolutely dead again. It didn't charge at all -- nada! I borrowed my neighbors car starter which puts out 75 amps and still wouldn't start. I then hooked up my battery trickle charger (12 amps) and the light is orange which according to the manual means that power is being applied to the terminal, but it cannot detect a battery, so no charge status can be displayed.
So what is up? Is the battery fried? Did I somehow lose a connection somewhere during the 10 hours of driving?
I was going to check the battery, but do you need to take off the rear wheel to do so? I don't have the manual to read up on it.
We had duffle bags in the trunk (totally full) but I don't see anything back there that might have come disconnected when pulling the bags. And it seems hard for me to believe that a radar detector would drain a battery in less than a day.
What should I do? I need to have West Coast Viper do some work on my car still, so I might just have it towed up tomorrow, althought I really wanted to drive it up there and not have to pay for the tow -- and my car is soooooo low that it is going to be tough to get on a tow truck, plus WCV's is about 40 mins away.
Help!
You must be registered for see images
