Car won't turn on

[maarten]

Hi guys,

yesterday - out of nothing - i've had a problem with my '96 Explorer XLT. Was just driving few miles and when I was back at the car, one burger later, the radio was reseted and the engine wont turn on. But the control lights in the dashboard where still working, also the interior light. When i try to start it, everything turns off. I've had a friend give me a jumpstart, no success. AAA guy came and gave me a jumpstart with this neat little device, worked fine.
I was driving for about an hour to recharge the battery (thought so, at least), turned it off at home and pushed the lock button twice(remote), and then instead of the horn a strange sound came from the speakers. Tried to start it right away, same as earlier, won't start. Gave it another try this morning, everything was completely dead.

Is there anything I can do at home? Does anybody have a guess what this problem could be about? My naive guess would be the battery connectors, but..well, i've no idea.


Thanks for your input,
Maarten

 

[JoeMahma]

Hi guys,

yesterday - out of nothing - i've had a problem with my '96 Explorer XLT. Was just driving few miles and when I was back at the car, one burger later, the radio was reseted and the engine wont turn on. But the control lights in the dashboard where still working, also the interior light. When i try to start it, everything turns off. I've had a friend give me a jumpstart, no success. AAA guy came and gave me a jumpstart with this neat little device, worked fine.
I was driving for about an hour to recharge the battery (thought so, at least), turned it off at home and pushed the lock button twice(remote), and then instead of the horn a strange sound came from the speakers. Tried to start it right away, same as earlier, won't start. Gave it another try this morning, everything was completely dead.

Is there anything I can do at home? Does anybody have a guess what this problem could be about? My naive guess would be the battery connectors, but..well, i've no idea.


Thanks for your input,
Maarten

Yup. First things first...check those battery connections.

 

[McSlug]

Yup. First things first...check those battery connections.

Agreed. Had this problem two turns of a spanner fixed it.

 

[maarten]

I've just called AAA and there is a good chance they sent me the battery truck this evening, so I will have them check the battery and the connection.
Thank you, JoeMahma & McSlug for your comments!

Edit: AAA guy confirmed that it is the ground-clamp. Hopefully the Explorer runs fine when it's replaced tomorrow.

I guess that's what I've to expect for actually driving through the water at pismo beach^^