Hello, I turn my key and nothing happens. No lights, no turn over, just dead like a dead battery. However, the battery has charge.

Its as if something is loose or disconnected. I have no idea where to start looking. I know this is a long shot, but any suggestions?

Is this a new problem?

I first have to suspect the battery. How much charge does the battery have? At about 10 volts its essentially dead.

If you have 12.6 volts at the battery, check the ground strap from the battery to the chassis. It has to be attached and tight to both the battery terminal and the chassis bolt.

If its not one of those you need to start checking fuses (under dash board above the clutch pedal.)
Lets see. Could be a bad ignition switch, as your switched power will go through that. And those do fail.
If its not a fuse then you need to look at the wires going from the battery to the fuse box and the wires going from the fuse box to the dash board. But at this point, I think its unlikely to be wires as you have several circuits that have failed.


Zach

Zach,

Thanks for the suggestions. This is a new problem. The car was running a little rough, especially at cold start. I also need to replace the emergency brake contact switch. I do not think these are related. (At least not the ebrake)

I will check battery voltage, but the battery is only about 12-14 months old.

Nothing has power, interior light, dashboard, instruments, headlights, etc.

Regards,
Terry

Zach,

Now I feel stupid. I checked the battery, it was dead. I assumed it was charged as it is pretty new. As soon as I connected a charger the car started right up. I do not know yet if the car will hold a charge. Any further suggestions on what to look for?

Check the alternator output. You should have approximately 13.8 volts at the battery posts with the car idling.

If that checks out, you may have a draw on the system (something staying on and draining the battery).

Good luck.

Clay

Thank you Clay, I will give it a look.

Failed diodes in the alternator have been known to drain batteries. A clamp on dc ammeter is handy to track down where current may be flowing (maybe when it shouldn't). Good clamp on ammeters used to be expensive, but there's tons of affordable choices around now.

Dan

More than once I have, accidently, left the interior light on - or - bumped the switch on the interior light from the middle position to always-on position

Started then to look for something complicated when it was just that darn light......