2001 Ford Focus won't crank up?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mommy of 2!
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Mommy of 2!

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a few days ago i cranked it up and heard a whining noise that got louder as i pushed the gas pedal, the next day when i tried to start it, it wouldnt start so i had to jump it off. was fine until i got back in the car and it wouldnt crank just clicks, jumped off again and now whenever im slowed down or at red light it might sputter and shut off and you cant crank it. all it does is clicks. i have cleaned the battery terminals, tested the battery and alternator at autozone and they are fine. any ideas to what else it could be?
 
If your cables have been damaged and are wires are exposed, it may cause it to ground out and shut off. My car was doing the same thing. Also check the distributor cap.
 
Have your coil packs checked. A bad coil pack will suck a battery dead in a matter of minutes. & will eat an alternator up trying to keep the battery charged.
 
Your battery is not holding a charge! and since you heard a whining noise right before all of this happened I would bet that you alternator is bad or going bad and it has damaged a cell in you battery. I would replace the battery ( GO TO ADVANCE AUTO) and then have your alternator tested to make sure it has not been damaged from the work overload. If your battery has been dead for a long period of time (days) then sometimes you can put a slow charge on it ( low amp/12 hours or more) and bring them back around. If you take it out and have Auto zone or Advance do it they will put it on a quick charger that pumps in a high amp charge for about an hour. This works with new half dead batteries but it is not good for those that are completely drained. You may get out with just replacing one or the other but it will pay off in the long run to just replace both and be done with it. You can get alternators with lifetime warranty so if it happens again then you covered.
 
if you jumped and it started then battery is not charging, How did autozone test? were the parts taken to them or did they test in vehicle? they missed something, if altenater /battery were removed for testing then I'd expect to find fuse/wiring problem. If I took vehicle to them and they tested, how do they explain no start and battery ok, really I think your alternator isnt working, whether its a blown fuse or a wiring problem, I cant tell from here
 
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