My car is dead. Dead, dead, DEAD!
Let me explain...
Late last winter, my car started doing this weird thing when it was cold and wet... it would 'short out' when I turned the engine off. It'd stay dead for about 30 seconds or so, then be fine. It would start the next time, no problem... the trip odometers were just reset. Come spring, no more problem. So I figured it was just a weird glitch.
Fast forward to late fall/early winter 2008. It's started acting up again, only more often and more 'symptoms'. So I take it to Autozone and get a new battery - the guy said the other one was way bad. Okay. That kind of makes sense. And it fixes the problem.
Or so I thought! Yesterday, I came out to the parking garage after work and the dome light wouldn't even come on. It was deader than my old battery had ever gotten. But it was icy yesterday morning, and I was running late because of it, so I shrugged it off as me being absent-minded and accidentally leaving lights on or something. So a coworker was able to give me a jumpstart and I was on my way. Figured I had a 30 minute commute and it'd be recharged and good to go.
Wrong!
Got home, backed into the garage (just in case), turned the engine off, and immediately tried to turn the ignition again. DEAD!
WTF???
So I email Eric (he's on a flight back from FL) and tell him I'm going to need a ride in the morning and proceed to ask if I can borrow his car the rest of the week (he walks to work). Being the absolutely wonderful guy that he is, this was not a problem.
But I still have the issue of trying to figure out my car issue. I'm searching forums (other 2000 Xterras are having this same issue, it seems), asking friends for their thoughts... but ultimately, I'm going to have a fun filled weekend of auto repair! Not really what I wanted to do. But I must, obviously. So it'll be Autozone first (to make sure they didn't give me a bum battery) and then off to the dealer, more than likely. I really hope it's something minimal and easy and CHEAP!
So keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll update everyone on the issue later. :P
UPDATE (01-09-09): Good news!! It turned out to be much of nothing, really... some loose battery cables. Apparently, when the guy installed my battery, he didn't tighten them around the terminals enough. So Eric and I cleaned them up and tightened them real good. Baby Bleu started right up. I knew she wasn't trying to strand me!
2 comments:
Yea!!!!! Glad to hear it's all OK!!!
We had that exact same problem on our Suzuki. The battery was indeed dead as a doorstop, but the cables had wiggled loose and become crazy-corroded. We bought AAA and had them come that afternoon!
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