I came home and parked my 2004 S. Windows went up as normal when I closed the door. Went back a half hour later and nothing. Car is completely dead. Checked the battery and 12.8v. Checked everything to the cable leaving the battery compartment and the same 12.8v. Checked the battery charge point under the hood and 3.1v.

I've read through lots and lots of threads about corrosion, etc. and found a few mention a chafe point of the main positive cable. Where is this point? Anything else I should check? Problem seems simple enough (cable is bad - anyone have a part number?) but would be nice if someone had some insight on where to look and if there is a common problem that I haven't found yet in my searching.

Thanks!

 

This is not normally an issue, it's one solid cable from the back to the front.
Make sure you check that the engine ground is good...
​​​​​
Make sure the cable to the upper motor mount is tight and not broken or frayed.

 

One time I turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened it appeared the car was totally dead but the battery was fully charged I disconnected the battery and reconnected it and it was perfect and has never happened again. I would start with disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

 

Thanks for the replies!

I took the battery completely out. Tested the battery by itself and reinstalled. No corrosion I could see but wire brushed everything anyways. Then tested every connecting point in the back that I could find. (On both sides of the fuse.) All 12.8v. Got to the jumper point in the front and it was 3.8v. Without knowing, I figured there was one cable going from the battery to the jumping point so it had to be the culprit.

I'll look at the grounding points at the motor mount. Hopefully its something easy. I wasn't able to get under the car as I was away from home but will go back with a jacks and ramps and whatnot, hence wanted to know if there was a chafe point I should look out for too. I still believe its a bad cable but was hoping for something else that I couldn't see without getting underneath.

 

Do you have a way to check continuity from the positive battery terminal to the jumper point? If so, could save you putting the car on stands.

 

That was my next plan before getting underneath - jump from the back to the charging point and see what I get. Unfortunately I won't be back to the car until mid next week.

I will keep everyone informed. Thanks again all for the input!

 

Hi All - Jumped the cable form the back of the car to the front and had power again to the car. Replaced the cable and it fires right up.

Thanks to all that had their theories!

 

Great news. Congratulations.

 

whoops, wrong thread!

 

Hi FatBill: Did you replace the positive battery terminal cable? And did this permanently fix the issue?

 

I did. And I have not had any further problems.