ken.vs.ryu

well it was nice out so i went to the car wash and got her all shiny. everything went fine, drove home and filled the engine up with some oil. wake up this morning, enjoying her new looks, i went to start and dead. nothing. i had to get a jump.

what do you think got wet? the battery is 3mos old.

jimbo74

sounds like the battery got shorted somehow..... or the alternator got internally friend and the car had t orun off battery power unitl it couldnt anymore

tombothetominator

maybe your headlights or dome lights were left on. you would know if it was the alternator, because normally you get a bunch of idiot lights on, and you would need a jump everytime.

colsoncj

It could just be a bad battery, it does happen occasionally. Get the truck running and put a voltmeter on the batt terminals. While running you should see 13.5 to 14.5 volts. If you do, your alt is good, if not your alt or wiring is bad. If you do see that, drive it for a while and see if the battery will hold a charge, if you wake up the next day and its dead, either you have a dead short (something drawing current) or you got a bum battery. Hope that helps, got more info if ya need it.

ken.vs.ryu

hmm i tried it again and it's completely dead. hope it's not the alternator. i'll need a jump to get home.

02SE

If the alternator was bad, the truck wouldn't continue to run after a jump-start.

If the battery was discharged enough that it couldn't crank the engine, it also wouldn't have enough energy to keep the engine running, after a jump-start.

Just because the battery is only 3 mos. old, doesn't mean it's not defective.

The most likely problem, is a bad battery.

ken.vs.ryu

i'll take it to autozone right after work, they sold me the battery.

hmmm my radio was shutting on off during my morning trip. when pressed the hazzards, it would shut off also. i smell a short somewhere.

weird how a carwash can make my monday miserable.

colsoncj

I hope you figure it out. If you're takin it to the zone, the should be able to test both the battery and the alternator.

Bumpin' Yota

Um yes your toy WILL run fine with a dead alternator and dead batteries. Mine did while trailering for the 200 mile drive from lake placid back home to sarasota....

You WILL get a bunch of idiot lights, mostly the CEL, the Battery light, and the OD light...

02SE

No, it won't.

If you your alternator ceased working altogether, you would then be running entirely off battery power (ecu, ignition, and anything else you have turned on such as headlights). If your battery is in good condition when the alternator dies, you can go quite a ways even several hundred miles (as long as you don't drain the battery too fast by running the stereo, headlights, wipers, etc.)

If when you got to your destination, and found the battery dead, it's because it was discharged along the way, keeping the ecu, ignition, etc. running.

colsoncj

I agree with 02se.

Bumpin, was your toyota on the trailer, or are you saying it ran and drove with a bad battery and a bad alt?

Bumpin' Yota

It ran and drove and pulled a 2000lb boat and trailer 200 miles or so, the whole while flashing idiot lights at me.....and me grimacing nonstop....

Now that I think about it, you are right the ECU needs voltage.

I realized that I had 2 deep cycles in at the time, that's probably why it never died.

ken.vs.ryu

i'm a dolt. i took the battery out. autozone tested it. said it was good. 12volts, 0.6 amps. reinstalled it and the truck started like a champ.

my connections were filthy and that was the cause.

northfacer581

same thing happened to me. i felt really stupid too. one day i came home from school just like any normal day, couple hours later i gota go get some food...car wont start. check everything i could think of, getting all kinds of weird things happening. call aaa and for tow truck to tow it to the dealer or somewhere...aaa guy is like, lets check your terminals, i was like, i did theyre fine...he spends all of 10 seconds cleaning them and starts up "like a champ".