No start - but its not the alternator, battery or starter (?)

[APillowOfClouds]

Hi All,

I have a 99 Corolla. A couple months back, I was having a problem where the car would not start, would just click, but repeated start attempts were successful eventually. Changed the battery initially since it had never been changed and I could do it myself. Turned out to be the starter, had that changed and car had been fine for about 2 months.

On Friday, I drove the car to work, did not notice any issues. Went to drive home for lunch, and battery was totally dead. Got a jump from one of those battery charger boxes, and drove it home. Still would not start again once I turned it off at home.

Jumped the car later that evening and let it run for about 20 minutes - it eventually stalled. At this point, since the battery is new, I figured, ah-hah, must be the alternator. Picked up a new (well, reman) alternator and installed it. Jumped the car, ran for 30 minutes, turned it off, tried to start, battery was still almost totally dead (got a warning light and the door chime tried to sound). Jumped it again and it stalled again after 15-20 mins.

Come this morning, I jumped it and as soon as I disconnected the jumper wires it stopped. Tried it twice. It just cuts out as soon as I take the cable away.

Had the battery tested, battery is definitely still fine.

Any ideas? I would be VERY VERY appreciative at this point!

TIA

Rob

[GSS123]

When the car is connected by jumpers to another it works. When disconnected it stops. So my guess is the other car is acting as your ground. Check battery connections to your car at both the battery and at the other end. I believe your ground cable is not properly grounded to the car.

[jdmccright]

I'll agree with GS on checking the ground as well as the battery cables for good contact and free of corrosion. Acid-damaged cables can look better than they really are.

Nowhere in there did I see an attempt to recharge the battery using a plug in charger. Running the car alternator for 30 minutes is not enough to give a dead battery a good full charge after depletion, not to mention a waste of gas. For $30-$40 you can find a decent charger that you can leave on overnight. For really depleted batteries, I prefer to slow charge them to minimize heating and vaporization of the water inside, which brings me to my next suggestion.

If it is not a sealed or maintenance-free battery, check the acid level and use distilled water to bring the levels up to at least cover the plates you can see inside. Good luck!

[APillowOfClouds]

Thanks for the replies! Problem turned out to be something simple and dumb - Autozone sold me a dead remanufactured alternator. Failed 3 tests at 2 different stores. Got one that passed, car now works....