G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (help me)

563 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by CrazyGreek, Feb 9, 2002

Old school

Discussion Starter · Feb 7, 2002

I just bought a brand-frickkin-new battery not even two months ago. Yesterday morning, my little brother goes out to the car to wait for me (I drive him to school every morning) and turns on the radio.
By the time I get there, he has been listening to Pennywise at full blast for about 15 mins with the engine off. This shouldn't be enough to drain the battery but it does. Whatever, I boost it with my mom's new beetle and drop him off.
I make extra certain to let the car run a few hours to let the battery recharge, but it dies twice more during the day and this morning it refuses to be boosted.

One thing I noticed about it yesterday when I first boosted it is that the alternator light did not come on when I turned the ignition.

Any help or suggestions?

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Diamond Dave

· #2 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN!

quote:[HR][/HR]This shouldn't be enough to drain the battery but it does[HR][/HR]

Depending on your stereo, it could be enough to drain it to a level where it doesn't have enough amps to turn over a cold motor. Draining the battery to a level where you need to put it onto a battery charger knocks a considerable amount of life off of it.

quote:[HR][/HR]I make extra certain to let the car run a few hours to let the battery recharge, but it dies twice more during the day and this morning it refuses to be boosted. [HR][/HR]

Unless you were driving, the alternator wasn't charging it. It only charges when you are above 2300RPM (or something close to that number).

quote:[HR][/HR]Any help or suggestions?[HR][/HR]

Definitely clean up your chassis ground at the transaxle mount & the starter ground. Then inspect all of the wiring between the battery, alternator, and starter for cracks in the casing.
Check your plugs, coil, plug wires, and cap/rotor. My guess is you'll find a few problems in that group.
PS If you do have a battery charger, make sure you disconnect the car battery before charging. It's hard on the alternator.

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Old school

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (Diamond Dave)

Thanks for the suggestions.
My car radio is nothing fancy, Sony Xplod 50Wx4, and my little brother was playing it at maybe 45-50% volume.
And yes, I did drive my car around for a few hours to charge it.
Lastly, I don't have any sparkplugs, coil, plug wires, or cap/rotor.
If it's something with my alternator, is there anything I can do to get the car started so I can get it to a garage? I don't want to have to pay for towing.

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VWADDICT15

· #4 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (Old school)

Don't forget your ignition coil as well..You never know sometimes. It's an easy check anyways..Just pull the coil wire off the cap and hold it near a good solid ground while someone cranks the motor over..Make sure you got a healthy spark

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Old school

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (VWADDICT15)

quote:[HR][/HR]Don't forget your ignition coil as well..You never know sometimes. It's an easy check anyways..Just pull the coil wire off the cap and hold it near a good solid ground while someone cranks the motor over..Make sure you got a healthy spark

[HR][/HR]

Ahem...
Look at the description for my car.
<-------
<-------

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Diamond Dave

· #6 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (Old school)

Rigghhtt!
I might as well have asked you to make sure you were running super unleaded.

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VWADDICT15

· #7 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (Old school)

OOPS..sorry bout that

Didn't check before I made the post.

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Old school

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (VWADDICT15)

S'aright!

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nigel

· #9 · Feb 7, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (Diamond Dave)

quote:[HR][/HR]Unless you were driving, the alternator wasn't charging it. It only charges when you are above 2300RPM (or something close to that number).[HR][/HR]

The battery will charge at lower rpm's as long as the alternator and connections are functioning properly. I get 13.8 to 14 volts at idle with no accesories running.

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stevelangford

· #10 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (nigel)

check the little wire that connects on the back of the alternator, if is loose it won't charge and I think it will not light the idiot light either, another idea is something draining your battery slowly and making it week, on a turbo diesel check the wire that goes to the diesel injection pump, is the only one and with the car off and ignition off, check for voltage if you get something different from 0 v. then the ignition switch or relay are bad. also check the glow plugs not shorting on you

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Old school

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 8, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (stevelangford)

Thank you my friend!
Will do that as soon as I finish class today.

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92foxrox

· #12 · Feb 9, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (stevelangford)

Oh, yeah, Steve's post here made me think of my battery drain down condition -- I had a problem like yours, turned out the trunk light was always on. Not saying that is your problem, but it drove me nuts, and then the mechanic.
Louis P

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CrazyGreek

· #13 · Feb 9, 2002

Re: G*DDAMMIT! Jetta won't turn over, AGAIN! (92foxrox)

Old School, You might want to check you ignition switch.

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