electrical issue, car won't start

[Gunslinger]

background info:
car has been running fine since coming out of storage back in late feb early march (thursday september10 )4 days ago it didn't start., hooked the battery up to a charger to try to start it the next day

still didn't start. (second day)

jumped it on the third day and it started, went to work and it need to be jumped when i was leaving. On the way home the stereo was skipping going on and off sounded like a shuddering sound.

once home i charged it now yesterday i started it up next day with no problem (sunday) went to work and when i left work it started fine was worried it wouldn't since the blitz dual timer read the volts as 11.9. Once i got home i turned off my car and realised i forgot something at work so i went back out to start it again and it wouldn't start this time the volt meter read 10.9 and the right head light was out

Ideas: thinking i need a new battery since volts are reading low and it seems to no hold a charge on that second day i charged it.
- electrical seeing as how stereo was turning on and off, as well as car shuddered when i went from have my headlights on to high beams.
-alternator since the distance i dirve to work and home is quite short unless stuck in traffic
ps also when it read 10.9 the dashboard where the spedometer is was flickering, and there sometimes seems to be a clicking sounds as well sometimes when i try to start it but it won't start.

Also when the car started yesterday when i was leaving work when i turned the key in the ignition there was a normal electrical hum i get when the car was running fine of all the stuff turning on.

any suggestions would be helpful, and what kinds of batteries are people running out there since if you were to keep the battery in the engine bay the space is quite limited. any help would be appreciated

[DarkCaporaL]

10.9 is not *that low*. My car starts fine at that voltage. The voltage usually goes low if it's been sitting for a while, because of all the crap hooked up in it (ebc, stereo, a/m memory gauges, etc).

So I dont think it's your battery.

To tell if your alternator is going out, check your voltage when the car is running. If the alternator is good it should read about 13 volts. Anything lower than 12 while the car is running probably means the alternator is on it's way.

Might be an electrical problem shorting out somewhere.

Like I said, I'm pretty certain my car starts at 10.9 volts. If your car didn't start at all at that voltage, I'd lean towards a short somewhere.

[Gunslinger]

thanks as for the alternator test when i've been driving my car the last few days the volt meter on the blits dual timer reads from 13.3V to 13.4V. as for the 10.9 votls thing there was someone else who had posted similar no start and someone replied that 10.3 to 10.7 the battery is going.

thanks for the suggestion to it being an electrical problem shortening somewhere

[Kras]

Check all of your grounds as well.

[NismoS-tune]

I was the one that posted about the 10.3-10.7 volts. Most cells are around 2.2 volts each or more when being charged (car running with functional alternator). A Car battery has 6 main cell stacks which makes it around 13.2-14volts of charging voltage.

A good battery (2.0V/C) will sit in your car around 12Volts. A dead cell is anything below 1.7 volts so (1.7V/C) in a car battery would be around 10.2volts. When a car battery gets below 10.7, it starts to lack cranking power. Some cars can start with 10.5 volts but most won't. My old Mustang couldn't start with 10.7volts or less where the skyline has started at 10.5 once. The current required to fire that engine depends on lots: Oil thickness/temperature, battery condition, starter size, engine size...
This information isn't the only way it's done. There's many different thoughts about batteries. This is what I remember from school and what I use at work.

Anyways, it simply sounds like your battery can't hold any capacity. I'm gonna guess you have a lead-acid battery, which are not deep cycle. If you've let that battery die, even just once and sit for even a short period of time, it's good as garbage. In my black car, the lead-acid battery died once and sat overnight. It charged fine, started the car and died again the next time I tried to start it. It was no more than 2 years old.

The silver car has had an Optima AGM for about 5 years and I've killed it alteast 4 times the same way, still charges and keeps capacity. I spent around $200 for that battery. A cheap lead-acid may only be $60 but they're exactly that, cheap.

Go buy a new battery my friend.

PS, if you charge a battery, take it out of the car or at the least disconnect it. A dead battery can sometimes rupture (litterally crack open and spill) depending on how old it is, how long it's been dead, how cold it is and so on. Also if you do alot of "Less than 20 minute drives", you Alternator isn't getting enough time to charge your battery from the discharge of starting it. Always let your car run for 20 minutes or more, otherwise, you just aswell walk (20 mins is an overshot, I guess 10-15 would be lots).

[DarkCaporaL]

Good info NismoS.

The reason I leaned towards electrical, is because the OP said the first time it didnt start, he charged the battery and it still wouldn't start, but then it did the day after.

Usually, even a dead charged battery will be able to start the car, but it just wont last long.

Now if the battery was dead *for good* wouldn't it of not started at all for the rest of his attempts, instead of just not working the first time and working later.

In my mind, if it was the battery, it would of started the first time he charged/boosted it. (unless he let it sit for a while after charging it before trying to start it).