I have gone to get my battery check and they hooked it up to a handheld voltimeter and they told me the battery was good. HOWEVER, I was thinking then it is my starter, but it is not clicking, it is a loss of power. After work it cranked up bearly and got me home fine. Once the car starts the battery gauge shows a little above 13. But when the key is in the ignition and it has not been started yet the meter shows that it is at 8.

Once I got home I turned off the car and then tried to start it again and the entire power to the car cut off, I mean the headlights reset(makes the grinding noise) and then I lost all power in the car while tring to start it. I waited 10 seconds then I bearly cranked up and the lights came up after about 10 seconds of the car running.

What is wrong? I need to have it fixed ASAP.

 

bad battery. the alternator keeps you going once your started

 

hard to tell for sure, but one question:

how has the weather been for you lately, the reason i ask is because if it has been raining alot recently, or your car has been really wet for any reason it may be your optispark. Mine is having lots of problems starting lately, and at first i suspected it was the battery, but it checked out fine, then i changed plugs and wires, and the problem persisted.

turns out even a little water near that opti can wreck havoc on your car's ability to start.

 

take it to a shop, have them check the battery charge, load test it and check the alternator output, they can check all that in under 10 minutes, thats where you need to start

 

i put 5 dollars down on it being the battery. Could be a busted power cell or something.... you could always go to a NAPA and buy a battery, put it in, if it doesnt make a difference then just go back in the store and return it LOL.

 

Actually it had rained hard and I mean maybe .5 inch, that is almost a years worth in a day here in el paso. Maybe.....

I did take the battery out and at this autozone the guy said that the battery was bad and hit dipped down into the 8's. I bought an Red Top Optima battery. Looks good and has 910Cranking Amps! The only problem that I am noticing now is that it is still not cranking on the first turn, wonder if it has to be broken in. It takes about 3-4 turns to start the car now? Could the low battery possibly have messed up my starter now?

 

I put $5 on alternator not holding a charge, guess how I know guys.
-b