I seem to get a different answer from everyone I ask, but basically I've been having problems getting my car to turn over. It makes a repeated ticking sound and won't start. It only happens once in a while, but it's still a P.I.T.A. When it does happen, a quick jump starts it right up.

Some people say it's the battery, some the alternator, and others the starter.

I had Pep Boys check the B/A/S and they didn't come up with anything unusual. They said the battery had 450/500 (amps/voltage? I don't remember)

Thinking out of the box, could it be "dirty" fuel injectors? I just recently changed the fuel filter, which was filthy, and was thinking maybe that could be an issue

 

the ticking is your starter trying to turn the motor over but it cant because of a dead battery. If Pep Boys say your battery if good then something is draining it while parked. Easy way to check the alternator is to crank the car and hold the revs around 1500-2k, then disconnect the battery cables, if the car shuts off the alt is bad.

 

I'm not sure what could be draining it. I don't have the Shaker, which is notorious for draining the battery. I swapped my stock head unit out for a pioneer though, maybe I'll have to try turning it off. But I'll have to try that Alternator test

 

If a boost gets the car started easily then yeah your battery was too dead to start the car itself. The ticking sound is the starter trying to work with too little juice.

Do you do a lot of short trips with the car? If you start/stop the car a few dozen times a day then maybe the alternater doesn't have enough time to replenish the battery OR the alternator is bad..

 

Yeah not a ton, but a good amount. It's probably the battery

 

the clicking sound is the starter solenoid closing and opening the circuit to power the starter. Usually that means the battery doesn't have enough power to turn the motor over. If the battery checks out it could be the juice just isn't getting to the solenoid or there is a poor ground. Check the terminals & cables for corrosion. If the battery is original to your '05 then its probably just going bad as its near the end of its expected life. It could also be the solenoid is going bad.

 

since you did it at pepboys, go to autozone and have them test your battery and alternator, they will do both for free as well. a second opinion may help narrow things down.

 

I broke down (literally) and decided to buy a new battery. So far so good, starts right up

Thanks for all the help guys

 

My guess whould have been a bad ground keeping the battery from getting the juice back. I would have the battery checked out again at another location (like Autozone). But you got a new battery and things are good again so nevermind.

Matthew

 

Yeah it looked like it could have been the original battery so I look at it as money well spent. Starting fine since