Shake Battery; Start Car

(a) Your most likely cause under the circumstances is either a loose or bad connection. If you have battery posts, disconnect both terminals and clean both posts AND both cables before reconnecting. That should solve your problem John.

(b) The most likely scenario is that your jiggling gave you a better connection. Proceed in accordance with response (a).

Well, my mechanic is doing a full electric test and so far all is good:

Plenty of power from alternator.

Battery takes a charge just fine (he practically refused to sell me a new one).

And cables ok.

Very wierd...the power outtages is very sudden. It will be ok and then all of a sudden, boom, dead.

Then, after a wait time, bing -- it can start right up again!

Broken plate inside the battery. Replace it.

...Ron

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Bad connection. Probably at the battery itself.

Are you sure?

The mechanic did a full charge test twice and told me it was ok.

And this place sells batteries and tires mostly!

Ok, I give up.

I'm going with you guys.

Told the mechanic to put in the best, most powerful, most stable battery they can find!

I believe Ron narrowed it down very well.Glad to hear you replaced the battery.Nothing worse than being stranded! Bobby

Ok, this group knows its stuff.

Against the advice of my mechanic, I ordered up the best battery and it completely solved the problem.

Not only that, but I realized that almost everything in the car had been running on "dim" with the old battery -- the dome light went from yellow to bright white. Suddenly, I had courtesy lights under the driver and passenger foot areas...and I could see my headlights on the road clear and white!

Now on to the next problem:

Temp and gas lights.

These come on and stay on until a little while after running temperature is reached. Then they will go out. They may come on again, especially when getting off a highway, and slowing down. Or they may stay off. I also get a "Service Engine" light and I need to pull the engine codes for that. It comes on and then goes off or stays on. Sometimes it doesn't come on at all.

I heard that you can pull the codes with a tool they can loan you at NAPA autoparts. True?

I don't know about NAPA Auto parts but you can put a deposit on one at Auto Zone stores and "borrow" the tool. The deposit happens to be the cost of the tool and I guess you can keep it if you want it, at least that's what I was told when I "borrowed" a axle bearing removal/install kit.

As for your problem with trouble lights... I'd be looking for bad connections, corroded wiring, and the like. A time consuming task to say the least.

...Ron

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Well, I'm developing a theory. I think that after I had my head gasket replaced, for some reason now the car is running too cold.

In cold weather it will peak at about 165. I think the running temperature is 185-200. I notice that if it idles long enough, and does a lot of very fast running or stop and go, the lights go off as the gauge noses into the

The thermostat was changed when the head gasket was replaced. I'm wondering if either (a) they put the wrong coolant in (its rated for 50-50, and they said they put 50-50 in) or (b) thermostat is wrong model or needs to be adjusted somehow (c) something else is not letting the car warm up fast enough.

A.) coolant mixture doesn't effect running temp. B.) thermostat is non adjustable, BUT they do come in different ranges. It is possible the wrong one was installed, or it was bad to begin with. (Happens a lot) C.) I'd check the thermostat rating and if it is rated right, have it tested or do it yourself.

Well, I did some research and it looks like the 160 is correct.

This thermostat uses a "cooler running" temperature to get "higher fuel efficiency".

Ok, so, this morning, the temp light came on about 30 seconds after start.

Then it went off and stayed off all the way driving to work ( 30-40 mph, stop and go).

Then, just as I pulled in the parking lot, it went back on.

I'm going to try and read those engine codes this week (paper clip method).

Other Notes:

As reported orginally, putting a brand new big honking battery in on Friday has made all the difference in the world. No more die outs. And some functions that were not quite working right -- lights, and who knows what else -- are suddenly A-OK.

I'm thinking with these kind of cars, that people should never go for the "Wal Mart" special kind of parts but go for the high quality. I know that adding two new Kelly radials this year made all the difference in the world for handling and mpg.