AWD
07-02-2009, 06:43 AM
I foolishly let someone else attach a booster pack to my battery today...
Now something else is buggered and I can't get home for the weekend because the car won't run.
Car starts ok with jumper leads, but the engine light and battery light stay on.
When the leads are removed, my multimeter shows no charge getting to the battery - voltage starts at about 10.5V after removing leads, and just keeps dropping until the engine dies.
Anybody know the first thing that would be destroyed in a situation like this? I'm hoping it may be just a fuse or something that I can replace in the morning and drive home, but suspect it might be something more...
More details if you need 'em:
Battery went flat because I was an idiot and left one of the interior lights on overnight.
I get some mates to help me push start the car, but the clutch is so weak it just slips and won't turn the engine over...
Helpful parking attendant sees the problem and offers to go get his jump start pack for me - says he's done it heaps of times for people before, and as it's his pack I let him connect it up for me (big mistake...)
Car starts fine, but as soon as he disconnects the leads the tach drops to zero and all the electrics die, and a few seconds later the engine splutters out as well.
He reconnects the booster, I restart car and leave it running at 3k rpm for about 5min with the booster pack still attached. Remove the leads this time and the electrics and engine runs for about a minute or so before the tach drops out and then everything dies again.
Now something else is buggered and I can't get home for the weekend because the car won't run.
Car starts ok with jumper leads, but the engine light and battery light stay on.
When the leads are removed, my multimeter shows no charge getting to the battery - voltage starts at about 10.5V after removing leads, and just keeps dropping until the engine dies.
Anybody know the first thing that would be destroyed in a situation like this? I'm hoping it may be just a fuse or something that I can replace in the morning and drive home, but suspect it might be something more...
More details if you need 'em:
Battery went flat because I was an idiot and left one of the interior lights on overnight.
I get some mates to help me push start the car, but the clutch is so weak it just slips and won't turn the engine over...
Helpful parking attendant sees the problem and offers to go get his jump start pack for me - says he's done it heaps of times for people before, and as it's his pack I let him connect it up for me (big mistake...)
Car starts fine, but as soon as he disconnects the leads the tach drops to zero and all the electrics die, and a few seconds later the engine splutters out as well.
He reconnects the booster, I restart car and leave it running at 3k rpm for about 5min with the booster pack still attached. Remove the leads this time and the electrics and engine runs for about a minute or so before the tach drops out and then everything dies again.