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Battery Question

I have a 2000 SL1 with 119K.

Yesterday, the car would not start. All symptoms of a dead battery. Headlights were dim, trying to start was only making a clicking sound.

I got a pair of jumper cables and the car started. A warehouse store was less than a mile away so I decided to drive there.

On the way, the engine barely held idle. It almost died a few times in moderate traffic and I had to keep my foot on the gas to hold the RPMs above

600. I made it to the warehouse store auto section and the car died when I took my foot of the gas to talk to someone. It would not restart.

New battery installed.

Car runs just like it always did. No problems with idling at all. I've already driven it a number of times and all is well.

My question: Why would the engine idle that way just because it was jump started? I thought once started the alternator provided all the power. Could the dead battery have been draining power needed to run the engine?

Reply to
Dean S. Lautermilch®²ºº³
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Yes, but it's probably more likely that your alternator is near death as well. You should have it checked (AutoZone does it for free, I believe). If it is bad, you may soon kill your new battery with it.

Lane [ lane (at) evilplastic.com ]

Reply to
Lane

I agree with Lane that the charging system is likely not working and that is why the battery was "dead" in the first place. When you jump started and then removed the jumper cables the battery was being discharged by the vehicle electronics. It ran very poorly because the battery voltage was probably barely above the acceptable level for the vehicle's electronics/computer to do their job.

Have the charging system checked and replace the alternator if needed as well as the battery. Good luck.

Bob

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Reply to
Bob Shuman

So anyone know how much an alternator replacement for a 2000 SL1 will run?

Reply to
Dean S. Lautermilch®²ºº³

Reply to
M. Cantera

The alternator tested fine at the dealership. So it looks like a totally dead battery can suck enough energy at low idle to cause the engine to sputter.

Reply to
Dean S. Lautermilch®²ºº³

If the "dead" battery had internally shorted cells, then the voltage would be pulled down enough to show the symptoms you saw. batteries can fail in a number of different ways, including open cells, open to posts (battery won't work at all), shorted cells, or just plan worn out and no longer holding anything near the original full charge.

Glad that you have this fixed and it was cheap. I usually try to change my batteries every 4 years as a preventive measure. It is much better in my opinion to do it when it is convenient and Sears has a DieHard Gold on sale.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

Yes your alternator cant produce enough voltage at idle. Nice user name btw.

Reply to
blah blah

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