Need Help!! URGENT!!

[TH85]

Hey everybody...i just got my car back from being worked on...had a coolant leak and they fixed that, cv joint replaced and brake lines.

well i stopped for gas and the car was sluggish to turn on. (3 weeks ago i got my battery replaced and alternator checked..all good)

then when i got home i truned off the car and turned it on again and it clicked and tried to turn over but did not work...all lights were on. I tried 2 more times but didnt work.

i looked under the hood and saw my coolant was above the "max level"
thats the only thing i saw...can this flood my engine or something??

Thanks for the help!!

[1fstavant]

your alternator died....

[TH85]

but it was clicking when i was turning the key over....and the audi dealership tested it 3 weeks ago...still u think thats it???

[317ssayzarc]

Its getting cold, my moneys on battery...

And coolant over max is no biggie, itll dump some if its too full... You can drain some by the drain screw on the drivers side bottom of the radiator if you'd like

[TH85]

damn....this is weird as my battery is 3 weeks old...brand new from the dealership.

the car was running fine when i drove home from my mechanic and my volt gauge was 14amps. its actually been in the 60's in chicago the last couple days...could it be anything else...

and because my car was in the dealership a few weeks ago can i have them held responsible for this if it is alternator/battery?

[zrowcool]

maybe a loose or corroded wire. either on the battery or the alty

[TH85]

man this is not fun...iv spent 2k in the last 3 weeks on this car with only 80,000 miles....and i have kept up to date with maintence (timing belts...regular check ups)...


so what should i do? do i need to get this thing towed back to the mechanic i jsut got it from or to the audi dealership who replaced my battery and checked the alternator 3 weeks ago (i took it in because the car was dead and wouldnt start, but since then has been fine until now)

thanks again for the help

[317ssayzarc]

man this is not fun...iv spent 2k in the last 3 weeks on this car with only 80,000 miles....and i have kept up to date with maintence (timing belts...regular check ups)...


so what should i do? do i need to get this thing towed back to the mechanic i jsut got it from or to the audi dealership who replaced my battery and checked the alternator 3 weeks ago (i took it in because the car was dead and wouldnt start, but since then has been fine until now)

thanks again for the help

Whoops... Lets just say Im impaired and didnt read all that first post... Its your alternator or a bad ground connection (make sure they tightened the ground cable)... And btw, stop taking your car to the dealer, youre not doing yourself any favors lol...

[zrowcool]

boost it to get the car started and make sure all the connections are tight and clean. and dont take your car to the dealer anymore

[TH85]

haha....i had to take it to the dealership cause i needed the closest place and that was it......

UPDATE......i just went out to make sure all wires were secure to the battery and was all good....i turned on the car, was a little sluggish but turned on....then turned off and then turned on and it started fine.

So what does this mean now??

[t1demont1]

sounds like somethin is drawin power when the car is off. either that or your car has a gost!!! FO SHAW

[TH85]

sounds good guys...thanks so much for the help...keep the ideas coming.

what would be drawing power when the car is off?
and is it safe to say that it is not the alternator anymore?

[t1demont1]

its never safe to assume anything

[Stampy]

I would double check the areas you had worked on. Not that I can think of anything that it would be, but something might be obvious.

[njm23]

check all your connections between the starter/alt/battery. Something is draining it.

[a4937]

Loose connection somewhere, bad terminal.. alternator.. hard to tell really. Agree with the others don't take your car to the stealership unless it's absolutely necessary.

[JoBuNY]

when your car is off get a meter and check the juice left in your battery. Then next time you go to start it and it just "clicks" take the meter again and see how much juice is in the battery. This will tell you for sure if something is draining the battery. I had a problem like this before with my other car and it ended up being a light in the trunk not turning off. So if the car sat for a few days it would drain the battery and the car would not turn on. But there was enough juice in the battery to turn the lights on when I opened the door.

If you test it and the voltage never drops in the battery then you have one possibility eliminated and you can start searching elsewhere.

[317ssayzarc]

Hook up a meter between the ground cable and ground post on the battery, with the ground cable off of the battery of course...

Best to get leads with alligator clips so you dont have to hold it there, since it can take up to half and hour for the car to go into "sleep" mode... Let us know how many milliamps its drawing

[TH85]

so the car has been working fine for 2 days now...
i tested the battery and it is fine.

could it have been bad gas or something??? (it all started after filling up on an empty tank)

thanks all for the quick replys...always nice to get quick answers!