Clockspring? Ignition Switch?

[cheepnis]

Hi All;

2001 Grand Voyager 3.3L about 115K.

My wife was stranded this morning when she got in the van and nothing happened when turning the key. Well, almost nothing. Upon removing the key there were strange buzzing and clicking noises that would not stop, key in or out of the ignition.

When I got home I found that the battery terminals were quite corroded, so I cleaned them up, but the issue persists.

About 2 weeks ago the airbag light had come on and I was able to see that there was a recall involving the clockspring. Is it possible that this too is related?

It also seems a bit weird how the instrument panel will flicker on and off, and the strange noises don't seem to correlate to any particular key position. Might this be something with the key/Ignition Switch?

If indeed it is a low battery (after reading around this forum it seems that this may also be the root), will a simple jump get it going?

Thanks for any help you can provide in diagnosing/repairing.
-Tim

Oh yeah Cheepnis is a Frank Zappa reference, I am not cheap, just frugal, heheh

[cheepnis]

OK so I jumped it and it started, whew!

So, now to see if the battery wasn't charged due to the terminal corrosion, or if it just won't take a charge.

I've got it on a trickle charger overnight, I'll see what happens tomorrow AM.

-T

[dugan50]

cheepris:
Your problems should all be related to the charging system. The airbag light and airbag system will be affected by a low battery, but should reset itself when the charging system & battery are back to snuff.
The clockspring and clockspring recall have nothing to do with these symptoms.

[cheepnis]

Thanks;

The battery was DEAD, funny thing is under load it seemed fine (tested at AutoZone) but it was 0.36 volts without.

I did replace the terminal ends with the heavy lead style ones. I was getting a blue-ish foamy/powdery corrosion on the original stamped steel terminal ends.

I've only worked on older cars before and the fact that this was happening no matter what position the key was in was really throwing me off. Wacky computer stuff...

-Tim