Battery? Or worse?
 

My truck has been running just fine, drove it yesterday seemed to have no problems. I got out this morning to goto work, and it won't start. The radio plays if I click over once, but when I try to start it, just clicks.

Is it just the battery? Or is it something more serious? What should I check?

Thanks

92 Toyota Pickup

PS: I'm car stupid :)

Its more than likely the battery, but the question is what made it drain overnight.

I was wondering the same thing. I could have possibly left the lights on, but I usually am good at turning those off.

Should I just try to jump it, let it run for awhile to charge the battery backup? Or go buy a new one?

jump it, or invest in a battery charger. Dont go out and buy a new one just yet. Jump the battery and then let us know if it drains again.

I'll give that a shot. Thanks War & Big!

It is PROBABLY just the connections...take them off, clean them thoroughly w/ a wire brush, and then reconnect everything tightly.

If it starts after that, drive up to autozone or something and have them check the battery and alternator.

Didn't think of doing that, I'll do that as well!

Thanks!

Most of the major autoparts places offer free charging system checks. It can tell if your battery is bad, alternator, etc. It doesn't replace a good mechanic, but can diagnose many simple problems. Many of those places will even replace the battery for you, if you really are that clueless on cars.

When such a thing happens to me, I just jump it and go. Then again, I also tend to carry a jumpbox.

Could be a battery, but if the battery is charged, and it's clicking, you're probably looking at a starter or starter solenoid, depending on whether or not they are serviced seperately on that vehicle.

If it is an automatic check to see that the shifter is in Park completely I have an 1975 Ford F-100 that I have to jiggle the shifter evrytime I try to start it just to get the Neutral safety switch to work.

What happens after that final click? I had a 89 or 90 Ranger that had a similar problem. Thought it might be the clutch switch (have to have the clutch in for it to let you start it), thought it might be the starter or solenoid...it wasn't. After that final click...nothing would happen. You could toggle the key all day and get no power anywhere. You would have to disconnect the battery cable, and reconnect it and try again. Anyway, to make a long story short, it had similar symptoms, and turned out the be a bad ground cable from the battery. Chances are, you have a relatively simple fix on your hands, but a lot of frustration figuring out what it is.

If it is a ground or a draw issue please remember that simply driving around in your car will not charge your battery very much. The alternator handles the load for electronics in your car and any residual energy created will maintain your battery's charge but it would take a long time to charge a battery this way.

if the battery is weak it will not take much to draw the power out of it. It doesn't take much power to play the radio but it does take a lot to turn over the engine fast enough to start it!

It doesn't sound like the battery is the problem, if it were, the radio shouldn't play. The simplest (and cheapest) thing it could be is you are out of gas.

No, a weak battery can supply the minimal amps for a stereo, but won't be able to crank the car.

Being out of gas will cause the car to crank but not turn over.

I took the clicking as it cranking but not turning over. I'm not there I can't hear it. I could be wrong. It wouldn't hurt to make sure he had gas in either case.

If it's clicking it's definitely the battery unable to supply sufficient starting voltage.

Now, whether it's the battery's fault is another question. I've seen this happen with perfectly good batteries and bad alternators. They stop charging the battery, so now you're running on reserve battery power and eventually that runs out.

It can also happen if the alternator is shorting - that'll drain your battery very quickly (easilly overnight). I'd test the alt. as soon as possible before the battery gets damaged if it's not already.

Well a buddy of mine finally came over to take a look at it. He said it was a 'silinoid' wire came off?

No idea what that means, but it runs!

glad it was that simple!

Me too!! Is this pretty common?

dont know if solenoid wires coming OFF is very common, but a problem like this is frequently ( if not usually...at least in my experience) the fault of the solenoid in some way or another. Glad to hear it was a cheap fix.

Appreciate everyones feedback!!