When attempting to start there was a sound like the teeth grinding of the starter and the "Check Engine" light flashing and the "Reduced.

DEJUAN LYONS

MEMBER
2004 ISUZU RODEO
3.5L
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
166,028 MILES

So I go to start my vehicle Tuesday morning, and all it does is sound the teeth grinding of the starter. I get a jump start, and the vehicle starts running. The check engine light and the "Reduced Power" light were illuminated for a while. Went to move the vehicle to the other side of the street on Wednesday evening for Thursday morning, and it would not start again all I heard was the grinding of the starter teeth. I got a jump, it started right away and there was no "Reduced Power" light. I left it running for a while, then I restarted it, and there was still no "Reduced Power" light but the check engine light kept blinking then it stopped. It blinked like 35 times. As the car was running, it sounded like it was shutting off in the process. I went to start it Thursday morning and back to the clicking again. Do you think that I have a bad alternator or something else electrical going wrong with the vehicle?

Thanks,

DeJuan

3 Replies

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello,

The blinking Malfunction Indicator Lamp[MIL] is a serious condition for your vehicle. It is described as a "catalyst damaging event" and needs to be dealt with immediately or you could do serious damage to your vehicle. Usually when your MIL or "check engine" light is illuminated and flashing, it will record freeze frame data for the technician and will record parameters of certain sensors and other engine vitals, so he will know what is going on with the engine when the DTC sets. But, your vehicle wasn't running at the time, so that's out. What did your vehicle sound like when it started with a jump start. Was there still grinding at the starter/flywheel?

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Friday, November 15th, 2019 AT 1:43 AM

DEJUAN LYONS

MEMBER
4 POSTS

There was no grinding at the starter flywheel, but it started right away. When I went to start it on Thursday morning it did not start. It was just the click, click, click, click. Before that I went out to start it Wednesday night after the jump start, it started but then it was just shutting off. Then when it shut off, there was no start at all. Now it will not start. Sometimes as well if I would try to start it, it would not give me any indication at all of anything; lights or nothing. It is just sitting there, so if I get a jump it will start, but the check engine light will still illuminate, but no "Reduced Power" light anymore. Do you think that I can still drive it to get it checked?

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Friday, November 15th, 2019 AT 3:36 AM

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello,

Okay, sorry. I must have misread your earlier question. Yes, this sounds like a bad battery, probably a dead cell. You can easily check this yourself with a simple Digital Multi-meter [DMM]. If you could take a voltage reading across the battery terminals we could determine if your battery has a dead cell. A reading of around 10.5 Volts is what would be expected for a battery with a dead cell. If your vehicle runs after a jump start, then the alternator is probably good, but you can get both tested at your local auto parts store, like AutoZone. Here are a couple of links below if you would like to test them yourself:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-battery-load-test

Please go through these guides and get back to us with what you find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Friday, November 15th, 2019 AT 8:31 AM