Hi all,

So, my battery's been acting up and finally came to a head tonight. What's been happening is if I go a lot of places (ie start and stop a lot) my car wants to turn on less and less, so when I turn the key it kinda tries to turn over but can't for a bit. Kind of like wump...wump...wump VROOM, if that makes sense? So tonight I had to go to the hospital so there was a good amount of driving around to get prescriptions and whatnot, and when I was driving home for good I got off the freeway and just when I hit the street (thankfully) my car died. But, the radio still worked, headlights were still on, all that, just couldn't give it gas, and the power steering was out. So I got stuck in the middle of the road and had to get a jump from a nice guy who pulled over to help me. I don't know if it'll start on it's own yet, I'm still getting over being stranded in the middle of the road haha.

My question here is, does it sound like I need a new battery? Or just new cables? Or could it be a different problem? Any help's appreciated, I don't want to have to buy something I don't need when I go to the mechanics tomorrow.

 

It could be any of those you mentioned. A visual inspection needs to be done on the battery terminals and connections for corrosion or loose connections. Both ends of the cables need to be inspected because there could be a problem at either end. A load test should also be done on the battery. Advance Auto parts and Autozone will do that for free. It would also be a good idea to test the alternator.

 

How old is the battery and alternator?

Is this a 3.1L v6?

 

It sure sounds like dirty connections.
Periotic maintenance (every year or so) you should go through your Positive and Negative (ALL grounds), take apart, wire brush it and where it goes, put back securely.

 

I honestly don't know how old the battery and alternator are, I bought the car about a year and a half ago, so they could be going out. My dad's coming over to look at the cables, but that's what I was thinking, since it started immediately when we connected it for a jump. Thanks everyone, hopefully it isn't too difficult to fix.