Weird Problem

[slow5poh]

Ok. here it is. I rented a garage at the apartment i live in. I only have been driving the stang like once a week or less. So, i leave the negative battery cable unhooked as not to drain the battery from sitting there. Never had a problem till today. Good power, i push in the clutch and turn the key, it makes a weird pop noise and the whole car shuts off. But it never even cranked once! It just like zapped off! All battery power gone. They only way i could get power is if i disconnected the battery and hooked it up again. After three times of doing this, it finally started up like normal. WTF?? makes no sense to me at all.

 

[JIffy94]

May not the be the problem, or you could have already thought of it, but how are the cables? I had to put new cables on mine a couple summers ago cause it didnt ever wanna start consistently. Put new ones on and it cured it, my ground cable was really crappy where it was touching the motor.

 

[HISSIN50]

Yeah, was the previously disco'd cable really secure?

 

[slow5poh]

hmm. i loosly put it on there and didnt tighten it. but then it started the last time, and i did the same thing. i dunno, the cables were ok before. but prob in need of replacement.

 

[HISSIN50]

A little corrosion may have built up since last time or the cable was not quite as tight since it had been R/R'd one since then, etc etc. Just tighten it up and see how it does.

Also, one of those terminals with the on/off knob (popular in marine applications) might work well - I used one on a car which was seldom driven.

Good luck.

 

[DTT92LX]

It's the connection. Mine does it too. You can get a batt terminal brush and freshen up the terminal and cable before connecting.

My car has always had a really bad corrosion problem anyway.

 

[darthcual]

Also from loosening/tightening the cable on the terminal, the terminal itself can become weak and even tear away from the battery. This happened to me after countless times working on my car and the battery was toast.

 

[slow5poh]

ok thanks guys. the pos cable does have some corrosion on it.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

If it were me, I'd give it a spray of WD40, and leave it if you're still able to start it with no problems.