PlotPoint

Went to work, parked in the office garage and came out at end of day to a car that gave no signs of life when I turned the key. I discovered the light switch had been left on. AAA came and hooked up their box but he could not even get the engine to turn over. Got a single "click" only. He said the battery tested "low" but not "bad" so he would not put another one in to see if it would start (he was also lazy). The battery is only a month old. Question: Will leaving the lights on all day destroy a new battery? He said it should not, and that the car should start when hix box is hooked up to it. The only signs of life we got was the "ding' that warns you to fasten the seatbelt when the key is put in the ignitiion, and a brief flash of lights on the dash. That was it. The engine did not even try to turn over. Just got that single click. Also, when I press the power lock on the door, there is no 'click' sound. I was able to lock the door manually.

I know for a fact that having the lights on all day is what caused this. So how does this turn in to a starter issue? Any advice here? I am trying to figure out where to tow it to...if someone thinks it's still a battery issue I might try calling a different AAA guy out instead of towing.

Yamae

A non deep cycle battery increases the internal impedance quite a bit when fully discharged, you know. You need to use a special charger in most of that case to revive.

PlotPoint

Thank you. I had the battery checked again this morning and this time the guy was willing to do as I asked and hook up a different/new battery. When he did that the car started right up. I also looked some things up online and from what I am reading once a battery gets that fully discharged you cannot start it from jumper cables. The online advice is that it will need to be taken someplace and charged up. Anyway, after the car started, I was told to take it to get a deep charge. I drove less than 5 miles in stop and go traffic and by the time I got there the alternator had fully charged the battery. AutoZone tested it and said it was fully charged and that no deep charge was needed. I have turned it on and off 4 times since then (short stops for gas and groceries) and each time it starts right up. Do you know if I leave it sit all day whether it will drain again? They would not do a deep charge so I am not sure what else I can do. It will be sitting overnight so I guess I will find out. This was a AAA battery that was new as of about six weeks ago. I don't know if it is a non deep cycle battery but I guess I can find out. Any advice about whether the charge will hold?

randal

It is not a deep cycle battery (those are more in the marine duty use) and does NOT need to be "deep" charged. I would have let the engine run for a good 1/2 hour or so but I think you are good based on your description. And in CA with warmer temps, you should be fine. Just drive it as you normally would and it will be fully charged by the time you get to work.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

You may be lucky in this instance. Any issues will come years from now in terms of battery longevity. Instead of say the so called 5-6 year life it will be a bit shorter.

Boxcuta

Whenever my car just "clicked" and would act like it didn't want to start, it was due to a loose positive terminal. The two leads that went to it. Tightened it up and it worked fine.

Yamae

Is your terminal the original one or an aftermarket one?