Electrical, lights and ignition

Tiny
KOZZY85
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 SCION TC
  • 2.4L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 160,000 MILES
All lights in the car flicker randomly ignition does nothing, all lights fully come on when brake pedal is pressed. Turn the key and nothing happens. The car was fine besides the starter not engaging, so I replaced the negative battery cable and that is when all these problems started. I put the original battery cable back on and it is still happening. Before I changed the cable we could bump start the car and it would run fine but not now.
Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 AT 8:43 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,233 POSTS
Check both the ground and positive side battery cables, Be sure the body grounds are good as well as the battery itself. An internal break in the battery could cause this just as easily as a bad cable.
But be very careful. If there is a break inside the battery it could spark, that could cause the battery to explode as they have a hydrogen gas in them from the charging process.

Flickering lights that get better under load suggests a bad ground or battery.
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Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 AT 11:28 AM

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