Here is the story:

I changed my battery in my car yesterday, and today i drove my car to work. Everything was fine and normal. Then after work i tried to start my car, there was no sound. My engine didn't crank, there wasn't even any lights on my dash (oil, check engine, battery, etc). The headlights didn't work, no radio, and the windows wouldn't roll down.

My friend has a portable jumping cable thing, and tired using that to my car, and it didn't work. And i threw in my old battery into my car, also didn't work. For both times, all the lights turned on, radio was working but when i turn the key, i hear the engine trying to start, it was like one crank and that was it. But i used my friend's battery in his car and my car started as if it was normal again.

Could it be i got a bad battery? I'm hearing people say my alternator is messed up, because the alternator didn't recharge my old and my new battery, but my friend's car battery was fresh and was recharged, but i'm not sure.

 

sounds like the alternator

 

I threw back in my new battery, and now my car starts now... this is weird

 

sounds like you had a bad ground

 

all this tossin batterys around cant be good for em... recheck your grounds and check the little red plugs on the positive battery terminal... that lil sucker has been a problem a few times when removing and replacing the battery...

once the car is running again... go to the auto parts store they can check to see if the alternator is charging or not...

good luck...

 

well the red plug thing on the positive battery terminal, the red cover has melted on the plug. so i can't pull it out. could that be the problem?

i also tired running the car then unplugging the negative connectoin on the battery, and the car didn't die. it was somethign to test out the alternator, how reliable is that? i saw it on http://www.ehow.com/how_112584_troub...-car-wont.html

 

if the red cover melted onto the terminal it is probably high resistance in the connection... trie getting new battery cables and terminals and recheck all your grounds..also check for corrosion on any of the main power conecctions (the green build up on the terminals and any copper wire connection or just dirt or grease) this corrosion causes high resistace and wont let voltage or amps flow.

 

what do i exactly look for when checking my grounds, i saw the wire and i followed it any everything seems fine

 

make sure they are free of corrosion, and make sure it is a good conection. look for opens in the wire or like a rip or make sure the end of the wire doesnt have strands hanging off.. most of the time they need to be cleaned or the bolt that holds them needs to be tightened down

 

If i unplug the positive plug and i hit it and shake it a bit and plug it back to my battery, my car starts.

 

put a mixture of baking soda and water on the electric connection......leave there for bout 30 minutes and wash of with water drieng after the rinse..make sure connections are dry after
try that..if it doesnt work try putting new battery cables..