HELP, No start - very odd

**Intrepidman** · 08-06-2009, 02:37 PM

I'm in need of any advice, or where to start looking for a problem.

My 02 WS6 won't start, it has only 14,000 miles on it but its been my daily driver all summer long, always works perfectly.
Today after work I walk out (it hasn't run since noon) and I turn the key, NOTING...one single small click, and then literally nothing, second and third try, not even the one little click, just dead as dead can be.
Strange thing, after I take the key back to the off position, about 2-3 seconds later all the guages spike and then go back to off position. They do that EVERY time I turn the key on then off. They will also do it a few seconds later, if I hit the power lock button on the door
As I came to the car the first time I unlocked it with the remote, but now the car is unresponsive to any remote commands.

I tried to boost the car thinking somehow I had the worlds deadest battery, though I left nothing on...checked twice. The car will light all its guages up when I turn the key, and make a RAPID click,click,click,click but nothing else, no sound like its trying to start. Disconnect the booster cable and its back to being a total rock.

Where do I start looking, I've never seen anything like this before.

**rbob93** · 08-06-2009, 02:56 PM

Sounds like a bad battery

**planemech2** · 08-06-2009, 03:54 PM

Dead cell in the battery. Time to change.

**SteveC** · 08-06-2009, 06:44 PM

I agree, sounds like the battery went south.

SteveC

**0rion** · 08-06-2009, 10:08 PM

battery or corroded or loose cable......most likely battery but wouldn't hurt to check the terminals for corrosion and tightness.

**DaddySS** · 08-07-2009, 03:49 PM

This is a common symtom, and the first thing to do is remove the battery cables acheck for corrosion, clen the battery terminals, check the gound and make sure the cable is solid and connected cleanly to the starter. 9 times out of 10 that's the issue.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 08-07-2009, 04:15 PM

This exact thing just happened to me a few months back on my 1996 Camaro. I am with these guys. Time for a battery.

**Intrepidman** · 08-09-2009, 08:09 AM

It was a very interesting battery failure. The positive terminal appeared to be solid at first check, but with a little giggling it popped right out of the battery...odd, no corrosion or anything, yet the back end of the terminal had melted down and turned the metal to the consistency of jello..which apparently no longer conducted electricity properly.
The battery even still has a charge :S

**35th-ANV-SS** · 08-09-2009, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by Intrepidman

It was a very interesting battery failure. The positive terminal appeared to be solid at first check, but with a little giggling it popped right out of the battery...odd, no corrosion or anything, yet the back end of the terminal had melted down and turned the metal to the consistency of jello..which apparently no longer conducted electricity properly.
The battery even still has a charge :S

If you do a search for this, this isn't as odd as you may expect it to be. I thought the same thing when this very thing happened to my 2002 SS (BTW - 13,750 miles on mine)! Almost exactly the same as yours. Come to find out, the factory batteries supplied with these vehicles are notorious for the terminal just "falling/popping" out with age. You aren't alone with this scenario.

Glad it was just a battery malfunction and you caught it before getting stranded in the middle of BFE.

**DaddySS** · 08-09-2009, 04:12 PM

the main killer of batteries is discharging because the plates flake as the battery discharges (and so do the terminal posts). If you don't drive your car very often, invest in a battery tender and keep the battery charged.