My 2nd car is an 02 Chrysler 300 I inherited from my grandmother when she passed a few years back. Ever since I've been driving it, there have been electrical gremlins that pop up from time to time, but nothing that's ever been too bad to worry about. The symptoms so far have been interior lights that will flicker on at random times while driving, the headlights randomly turning on when the switch is set to auto, and one time I looked out in the driveway where the car had been parked for several hours and the headlights were flickering on and off. Obviously there is a loose wire somewhere, but again, in the 4-5 years I've had it, it's been rare and nothing that's bothered me too much.

Then about 2 months ago it started having trouble starting. At first it would just click one time before starting up just fine. Then after a week or so, it would click 2-3 times. Then 5-6. After a month or so it would take 30 seconds or more to start the car, but it would always start. Then it started making a click-click-click-click-click noise when I turned the key but the engine wouldn't turn over. Being my 2nd car, I wasn't in a massive hurry to fix it so I let it sit for a month or so and after that even the internal lights wouldn't come on when the door was open. Obvious dead battery. So I took it to a family friend who has a shop, and told him the whole story and he replaced the battery and gave it back to me. I wasn't pleased, because even though I knew the battery was 4-5 years old (I replaced it right after I started driving it) and might actually need replacing, I also knew that most likely the bad battery was a symptom and not the cause of the problem. Sure enough, a week after I got it back, after driving it almost every day, it started doing a clicking noise again before starting. At this point, it starts fine, after anywhere from 1 to 3 clicks, every morning. Starting it up after that seems to be perfect. No clicks. But if it sits overnight, then I usually get the clicks the next morning.

I'm nothing close to an expert in cars or wiring, but it sounds like to me that I have a drain somewhere on the battery. Is that a common problem? When I asked the mechanic we took it to, he acted like he had never heard of something like that and almost seemed angry when I told him that replacing the battery probably wouldn't fix the problem. I would think if you knew what you were doing you could test the wires, but I wouldn't even have the first clue where to begin. Anybody have any advice for where I should start? Is that something that a good mechanic will be able to take care of?

5/17/2012 6:59:07 PM

sounds like a grounding problem

Quote :

"It sounds to me like you have a grounding problem. All ground wire mounting spots/points must be checked for rust or corrosion. Remove driving light on passenger side (ground wires there). Remove ground terminals from driver's side inner fender rail , clean with wire brush etc. There are major discrepancies in the Chrysler Service manuals , as to whether or not there "is" or "should be" a dedicated ground cable going from the battery ground terminal (directly to the passenger side engine block). The manual says there is 1 there as such , but it doesn't exist. The manual also says that there is supposed to be a ground cable bolted directly behind the starter (on the transmission casing) - but there aren't. These types of discrepancies can cause all sorts of power failures , clips , etc. , where the PCM will shut down as a result , or the starter will not engage etc. Plus , you really need to be checking the engine ground straps that are braided , which go from the engine "head" to the inner fender well mounts (GROUND). If just 1 braided strap fails to conduct to ground , (rusted) , a no-power condition can exist. I have replaced just 1 , and had the engine start & run without any issue in the past. The same principals can be applied : if you were to attempt to use a rusty lightbulb , and screw it into the socket of a lamp. The result would be : intermittent lighting of the filament , dimness of the bulb , on-off conditions , or no lighting of the bulb - or the bulb might burn out as a result of improper & inconsistent voltage flow to the filament. With today's computers , the computer will sense an abnormal condition (and treat it as a short) - shutting the entire system down. Another noteworthy thought I just had (you said it was raining) when you had the no start condition. In the Service Manuals , they mention that the rear window defroster lines are not embedded into the glass (they are glued on top of the inner glass) - therefore you should not clean the inner of the rear window with harsh chemicals of any kind (water only). Those lines could be broken , cracked (not working) , "or" - crossing over each other , "or" RUSTED on the window edge contact areas to the window frame. "

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0ef6e7/144

5/17/2012 7:38:29 PM

a clamp-on ammeter on the battery cable might tell you if you have a parasitic drain

[Edited on May 17, 2012 at 8:34 PM. Reason : afds]

5/17/2012 8:34:33 PM

You can pull a battery cable and use a multimeter inline as long as you don't turn the key on. Pull fuses to eliminate systems. A certain tiny amount of amps is normal, varies from car to car.

I've seen several chryslers with burned wiring buried deep in bundles. A real pain to fix. They really are the pinnacle of American trash.

As mentioned above, look for corrosion in connectors and clean up the grounds. I've also seen fuses "half" blow and cause a voltage drop over the little fuse filament. I wouldn't have believed that one if I hadn't seen it myself.

[Edited on May 18, 2012 at 12:30 AM. Reason : .]

5/18/2012 12:27:38 AM

having this problem in my 05 odyssey...going to track it down when I get my multimeter from Amazon (Sat)

12/30/2015 8:10:39 PM

dont really need a multi meter. just get a cheap test light and put it in series with the negative terminal.

light glows: bad

light off: good

[Edited on December 31, 2015 at 7:34 AM. Reason : then start pulling fuses out until light goes off ]

12/31/2015 7:33:48 AM

Replace the starter. Sounds like it has a flat spot in the armature. The battery issue came up due to the continued excessive drain on a battery that had fulfilled it's life which explains why you are now back to the original issue since replacing the battery.

12/31/2015 8:17:14 AM

Starter was replaced last week.

12/31/2015 8:12:44 PM

Should I be seeing any voltage from the positive terminal to ground (with neg terminal disconnected)?

I'm seeing about 1 vdc (0.9).

1/2/2016 5:14:20 PM

Okay, I checked all of the fuses, checked for any stray current and nothing.

1/2/2016 5:34:29 PM

^^not sure. electrons only flow in a circle so that 1 volt not coming from battery. (i think)

just worry about amps between neg terminal and neg cable in series.

^what do you mean nothing? nothing is good right

[Edited on January 2, 2016 at 5:37 PM. Reason : s]

1/2/2016 5:35:37 PM

no current from the neg terminal to the neg lead when disconnected (i.e., in series)

1/2/2016 5:39:52 PM

^may be an intermittent problem then cause battery should not drain down if that is the case

1/2/2016 5:43:07 PM

and the starter is turning over no problem, it's just not wanting to start consistently...

1/2/2016 5:45:38 PM

^if it cranks but does not run you are going to want to get a fuel pressure gauge on there when its messing up. also could be spark or fuel injection pulse

1/2/2016 5:50:34 PM

Yeah, I was going towards the fuel system. I replaced the spark plugs the day after the starter (Christmas Eve).

1/2/2016 6:24:20 PM

Still having problems starting.

Took it to a reliable non-dealer shop in the area.

I explained what symptoms we are seeing, and the mechanic said he wanted to keep the van for a while to figure it out (because he couldn't make sense of what it may be based on what I have done).

1/5/2016 12:54:15 PM

Result: bad battery cell.

1/8/2016 4:33:18 PM