car dies then comes alive later

[HiImBrian]

Well I just got back from Ames a few hours ago and I was pretty happy considering zero car problems on the way home is exactly what I like to see. Well after I got home, I relaxed for 15 mins before I went back out to unpack the car. I got outside and opened the passenger door and the dome light didn't turn on, but I didn't really think anything of it. It ended up coming on about a minute later by itself anyways. Well after I unpacked the car I locked it (using the aftermarket keyless entry system) and went inside. Later when I went outside to move the car so my dad could get out the car was completely dead. Now I know nothing was left on or open. It just had no power. It was about midnight and I wasn't about ready to use the key to unlock the door and risk setting off the alarm so I decided to just leave it. Later I realized the alarm wouldn't even go off if the little flashing light was off. So I decided to go back outside and check. I hit the unlock button on the pad and the car chirped at me and unlocked. I got in and it started up just fine like nothing happened. What the heck is going on here?

[b00stcreep21]

Bad battery, corroded terminals, corroded cables, loose battery connections. You'll probably find your problem being one of these

[Jakey]

My bet is on a loose battery connection.

[x-pride]

Weak battery.

[HiImBrian]

This has happened before in the near past. So I replaced the battery and went back to school. A week later I came home and it was dead again. So I went and got it replaced once again. So I don't think it's the battery, I think there is something causing the battery to die, considering this one is less than a month old. I don't have subs or anything that I can think of that would be drawing power. The cables aren't corroded, I replaced those with the battery the first time. And obviously the terminals aren't corroded either. I'll check the connection again, but I'm pretty dang sure they are on there good. I put a little Vaseline around the terminals before I put the cables on. I heard that helped with corrosion a little, could that be my problem?

[b00stcreep21]

So if you think you already know what the problem is, why are you asking?

FYI, after a battery is discharged (dead battery), it doesn't just magically recharge itself and work again

[asshanson]

I don't see how vaseline could cause an issue, unless it's conductive and shorting it, but I doubt it. As long as the terminals are on tight, it shouldn't matter.

Why don't you use an amp-meter and check the battery draw when the car is off, that way you can tell if something is drawing a lot of power when it shouldn't be.

[x-pride]

[quote=slowboy;184883]I don't see how vaseline could cause an issue, unless it's conductive and shorting it, but I doubt it. As long as the terminals are on tight, it shouldn't matter.
quote]

Vasiline will cause an issue if he put it on the post before he put the termnal on. He is putting a barrier between the termnal and battery post.

He needs to clean off his terminal and battery post of all the vasiline.

[HiImBrian]

So if you think you already know what the problem is, why are you asking?

FYI, after a battery is discharged (dead battery), it doesn't just magically recharge itself and work again

Never said I knew what the problem was. I said I knew what it wasn't :)

Anyways, I think I may have solved this one. Turns out the battery in the key fob was dead or close to. So it must have been sending a really weak signal. The fob would beep like normal but the brain must have had a hard time getting the signal. I was leaving church tonight and the same thing happened. The fob beeped but the car didn't unlock. After a few tries the fob just died and wouldn't beep or do anything. This lead me to my conclusion of a dead or dying battery haha. I ended up using the key to get in my car while the alarm started going crazy. I figured it would just shut off after a while, but nope. It stayed on during my 20 minute drive home on 494 haha. The shitty part of the story is I just remembered the manual alarm shut off button under my dash. wow im an idiot haha.