My daughter has a 2002 Toyota Corolla, and she's 4 hours away at college. She came home last weekend, and drove back to Idaho on Sunday. Everything was good with her car.

Sunday night, the temps in Idaho dropped to around 0. The next day, her car wouldn't start. Her friend came over and jump started her battery, and as soon as they put the cables on her battery, her car started, without even having her key in the ignition. She didn't let the battery charge after jumping it, and turned the car off right away. Today, the car wouldn't start again, so she got another jump start, and let her car run for 20 minutes. When she turned the engine off, and back on, nothing happened. But, when she removed her key from the ignition, something in her car started clicking, and was still clicking 5 minutes later. Any ideas where to go from here? Starter? Dead battery? Alternator?

I will have to help her with this over the phone, since I can't get up to Idaho anytime soon.

Thanks everyone.

Dead battery. Get a new one.

It could be several things.
How old Is the battery?
Is the alternator charging the right amount of Volts?
Are the cables clean or covered with corrosion?
Check out the belt to the alternator.
Running the car at idle for 20 minutes will not charge a dead battery.
I recommend taking it to Auto Zone, let them put a tester on it and see what they say. Some Auto Zones are good and honest, some are not. My son had a bad battery in his Civic, like you I was not close to his location. Auto Zone told him batter and alternator are bad. I bought both, when he came home for the weekend, I put a Fluke tester on it. Battery was bad, alternator was putting out the correct voltage. I returned the alternator.

Car starting with key out of ignition?
Not a battery problem, dead battery may or may not be good - but I think draining of battery a symptom and not cause.
Most likely going to find bad ignition switch module or other electrical short. I'd ask if the ignition switch has felt weird, loose, hangs, etc.
It's winter, so also look for rodent droppings / damage. They can trash wiring and cause all kinds of grief.

Wonder if the battery cable terminals are loose, and being squeezed by the jumper cable clamps them down or wiggles them enough to make contact.

The 1st things to acertain is that the battery is good. After that ensure proper(tight), clean connections.

The one thing to check is the age of the current battery? Since it happened with the colder temps I’d lean battery first.

Car electronics do some funny things when below nominal voltage.

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Car electronics do some funny things when below nominal voltage.

Indeed. Without fancy equipment you can use the car's interior lighting. With everything good, the lights should be at their brightest. This should be the case with jumper cables attached.

With the car connected to cables, observe the lights. Start the car, and with cables still attached observe lights. Remove cables, observe the lights. Turn off car, observe the lights.

When and if the lights dim will also give an indication to the problem. As it is, I suspect a dead battery that's putting out less voltage than it should. Possibly a loose ground too.

Is there a remote starter system installed?

When it started without the key did the lights and electronics work without the key?


I would would bet it is ignition switch or wiring to it as unless there is a short or messed up remote starter, just the battery connection can’t start the car.


Also, if it always starts right away when jumped without key, you could unplug the ignition switch and see if it still does or stops. That won’t tell you 100% but if doesn’t then a new switch would be good starting point. If it starts then switch isn’t the problem but ignition wiring could be.

Well, she got her car to WalMart to have them check the battery. The battery is only about 2 years old.

Had similar problems with my daughters car, replaced the battery and everything is fine. When I jumped it, the car was clicking and doing strange stuff I had never heard before. Great now. Also my Jeep's volt gauge would peg high and the check gauge light would come on, I would take my meter out and check for over voltage, none. Happened several times, no overvoltage. Went out one day and no start. Replaced battery, no problems since.

I'll throw in a wild card and say possible ignition switch. Over time the carbon tracking in the contacts and sparks when contact is made, the switch will intermittently fail a long time before it stops working. Some switches can be repaired by taking them apart and file the contacts or rotate the copper brushes if it is made well enough to do so. Things are kinda pricey. Around $140 for the part. Can't fathom what labor would charge. Starter relay would be another possibility.

Hopefully this isn't it and something cheaper would be the way to go.

I have heard of ignition switch issues caused by having a lot of heavy stuff on the key chain along with the ignition key. GM issued a recall on 'leventy four million cars for that issue, if memory serves. Their solution was to plug up the hole in the top of the ignition key so it couldn't be put on a key ring.

WalMart replaced the battery for free, since it was only a year old. They said they've been seeing a lot of dead batteries lately because of the cold.

Hope that solves her problem.

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Any ideas where to go from here?

Ignition switch. Ever notice how turning the key to START is against a spring and it returns to run because of spring pressure. Many ignition switches are a sliding plunger loaded with contacts that moves inside an "enclosure". When you start the car, that plunger is forced to move so that the right set of contacts on the plunger will make with the correct fixed set inside the ENCLOSURE which energizes the starter solenoid. That plunger will then return to the RUN position where other basic run functions' needs are satisfied through different sets of contacts when you release pressure on the key. Those switches are greased internally from the manufacturer. Now throw in some cold weather with some 16 year old grease that's already stiff and that sliding plunger can be stopped from returning to it's home, or run, position. How else would you get power to the starter solenoid without twisting the key to the START position? The plunger probably hung out of position when she tried to start it that 0 degree morning? I have taken ignition switches apart and cleaned and re-greased them and it's not that difficult. Good luck with your problem.

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Originally posted by 4x5:
...and as soon as they put the cables on her battery, her car started, without even having her key in the ignition...

I will have to help her with this over the phone, since I can't get up to Idaho anytime soon.

I'm thinking this is not something your daughter might be able to handle (no offense; assuming she's like mine), especially in severe winter temps in a parking lot.
As one dad to another, I'd take over and find some way to diagnose this in person.

Looks like the consensus is the switch. $140+ part and hideous labor.

Have her check the starter relay first. Should be mounted in the fuse box/power distribution module. Waste of time? Probably so. But at least it could be a miracle that only cost six bucks...

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
WalMart replaced the battery for free, since it was only a year old. They said they've been seeing a lot of dead batteries lately because of the cold.

So did this solve her problem?

Might not be a bad idea to supply her with a jumper pack like this:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d...=jumper+pack+lithium

In case she has any further problems