Car was parked and not used for 4 days and we had quite a rainstorm (thanks, Hurricane Joaquin).

I go to start it up, and it clicks and the lights twitch if I try to turn the motor over. Keep it on 'on' for a second, then it turns over fine.

Then I drove about a hundred miles.

Parked back at my home, and I try to turn it over, and it looks like there's just not enough juice and it didn't charge during my drive.


Battery was replaced last month. Fuel pump ECU was replaced last month (solved a dying-on-idle issue I had). Alternator is OEM as far as I can tell. Is it common for our alternators to go? (I have an SC300, so no 1UZ power steering leak here)

I'm at 167,000 miles.

 

Jump the battery and test the alternator with a voltmeter. It appears the battery's just straight up dead, and a battery replaced recently shouldn't go dead in a meager 4 days especially if you drove the car afterwards. Can't know for sure until you test it.

 

Would not be a bad thing to replace the OEM alternator with the best rebuilt you can afford. At the same time replace both battery cables and if the new battery is questionable get it swapped under maintenance.

Our cars are very sensitive to poor power and having a sound recharging system and well attached cables is a good start.

 

Well, can't any battery go dead if the alternator fails to charge it? Although the alternator didn't seem to have any problem powering the car's electrics (lights, stereo, cigarette lighter, etc) while driving, so it seems peculiar that it would have just enough for that but not enough for the battery...

I'm picking up a set of battery cables tomorrow and we'll see.

 

Yeah, but the Battery shouldn't have been dead-ish to begin with. Probably for the 100 miles you drove, the alternator WAS working, but was working somewhat poorly and only managed to recharge to what was drained from the battery when the starter was first fired, with all the car's electronics also running off the battery during this time as well, but didn't get it charged enough to fire up the starter again. That's what I think may have happened. We'll have to wait and see though.

 

Welp, I replaced the alternator, and I now have the same result when jumping with my girlfriend's Rav4. There seems to be enough juice for all the electronics but all I get is a click, which is what I was getting before, prior to the battery completely going dead like in the video I posted before.


I'm gonna take this battery (which I bought in July) back to advance to get it checked and possibly charged if not exchanged. Also placed an order for a new starter which should be here Friday.

 

From the second video I would guess starter. Try hitting/tapping it with a hammer while someone starts it and see if it'll kick over.

 

Yup. Advance confirmed the battery is healthy. Further research indicates that the click is likely the solenoid and the whirring is the motor spinning freely since it hasn't engaged.

Starter itself comes Friday night, and it'll either be towed to a nearby shop, or I'll spend 4 hours under the car on Saturday morning. *fun*

 

Replacing the starter isn't terrible if you have the right tools. Need a bunch of extensions and a swivel to get the mounting bolts off.

May be worth the time to save yourself a tow bill and the cost of the shop installing it.

Either way, good luck with it and keep us updated.

 

Take the starter to the auto parts store and have them put it on the bench before you buy one.

 

Bench test can be highly inaccurate because there will not be a load on the starter, it will only be spinning air. If the battery is load testing good, and the battery connections are good, then you can be 90% sure its the starter.

 

Agreed. Had a 95 accord with a bad starter. Bench tested good so I put it back in, still didn't work. Bought a new starter and it fired right up.

 

Replaced the starter.

No dice.

Same clicking, coming from the starter itself, not the relay. So I have a tested-working battery, new alternator, new starter, and no progress.

 

In this last video you still have the car hooked up with jumper cables?

What happens if it isn't hooked up to another car?

 

Same thing. Just a click.

Another video I took after removing jumper cables. And no, not the relay.