One Morning for work and it wouldn't start, no power at all?

TOBIAS

MEMBER
1995 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
154,000 MILES

This car has been wonderful up til a week ago. Woke up one morning for work and it wouldn't start, no power at all. Took the other car to work then came how and tried to jump and it worked. Let it run for a while, drove it around, and shut it off and tried restarting it 15 min later no problems. Same thing next morning, no power. Tried to jump it again and wouldn't even take a charge. I thought it was the battery so I bought a new one. After I connected it power came back, so I tried to start it and it wouldn't do anything like the battery was dead. Turned the key to off pos. And back on and no power whatsoever. A short maybe somewhere? If so any starting points to look at?

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 AT 6:10 PM

1 Reply

SQM

MECHANIC
6,383 POSTS

Hello,

If you are able to jump start it the issue might be the battery cable.
Possibly the terminal itself.
First inspect the battery terminals and the cable. Make sure they are free of corrosion.
Those side post terminals can be problematic. Many times, they will have corrosion on the inside and will require a thorough cleaning.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/everything-goes-dead-when-engine-is-cranked

If there was a cable issue, like a short then you would not be able to jump start it.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you.

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Sunday, January 16th, 2022 AT 12:57 PM