Parsa

when i turned on my car this morning the car successfully started but sounded like it was dying, the engine whinpered once or twice before it started as opposed to making its loud couple of sounds before. i drove to college and when i parked i checked to see if it would start so i turned off the engine and it wouldnt start back up... check vsc came up. car has 153k miles not sure if battery has ever been replaced since i bought it used.

started perfectly fine yesterday. can the battery go bad like that in one day? didnt leave any lights on or anything. hopefully i can get a jump whhen leaving and school and hopefully that does the trick for the ride home

what do you guys think?

thanks
parsa

Bichon

Yes, a battery certainly can die quickly. Given that the car cranked sluggishly, drove normally after starting, and then refused to restart, I think a bad battery is the most likely problem.

Parsa

thanks man i really appreciate the quick response. I have a chem exam today and now this is all im ****in thinking about lol

Parsa

interesting - my buddy was gona help me jump it but i gave it another chance after class and it turned on. the engine was thrning over slowly and took a while, but it did turn on lol

now it has check vsc and all lights. does an undercharged battery throw a check engine and vsc like I have? currently sitting in the car outside my house trying to charge the battery haha

Bichon

I'd recommend that you head to AutoZone or some other place that does free battery testing first thing tomorrow. Your symptoms point more to a bad battery than an undercharged one. Low voltage can cause a check engine light, so I wouldn't worry about it until you've either replaced the battery, or tested it as good.

Parsa

yea tomorrow morning ima call oreillys and autozone and see if i can get a free test at one of those places, i have class at 9:40 tho so ima need to get up early as hell. after i let my battery charge for a bit i turned the car off and started it in a couple min and it turned on very easily. thanks Bichon, much appreciated. you seem to be really active on here helping people with different problems, i wana thank you on behalf of club lexus lmao

srt1

Yup that's what I'd sugg too. You will get the vsc when your batt goes down on you. The batt should have a date on it. Remember 6 cells and even though it may hesitate to start that is your first inclination. Get a new one.

Parsa

yea i know i need a new one. i have no prior knowledge of car batteries tho; is a 6 cell battery the battery used for our cars? also whats the advantage of having a "better" more expansive battery to a cheaper one? is it simply the life of it, or will some die faster than other lets say if the car is off and im using the charger and stereo? are car batteries ranked by voltage? sorry for all the questions just trying to get some knowledge on batteries

istarzan

iTrader: (8)

It could also be the alternator if you start losing NAV, radio, and power steering.

My VSC and check engine light came on when my alternator died. Took it to autozone to read codes, 2 engine sensors weren't getting enough voltage. After that, the car started sluggishly, then my electronics went out, and finally the PS. Once I parked it, wouldn't turn over anymore. When AAA came to tow it, I asked him to jump the battery and my car started fine. But I wasn't about to risk driving on the highway and lose power steering. Towed to dealer and confirmed it was alternator.

Parsa

yea not driving in the freeway was probably a great choice if power steering was an issue

so now my car starts successfully each time and the engine turns over pretty well, I'd say only about 75% as good as before tho.. going to o'reillys tomorrow to check it out