Strange no crank/no start condition on the 355. Ideas?

Possible dead/dying alternator. You drove the car with good battery on that Sunday. Low/no output alternator caused good battery to, just enough, run on its own power for the day. Next day/start, the battery did not have enough to turn the engine. Battery is now too low of charge. Not fully dead, But possibly around 10v or so. Which will still be enough voltage to light some instrumentation.

My guess.

 

Ketell charge the batter for12 hours on a charger not maintainer
Buy a 10 dollar cig lighter voltage checker and once battery is charged, if it starts then check voltage while it’s running

 

If the battery is old it may not take a charge,
If it’s hooked to another battery jumping the original it still may not be seeing enough voltage.

if you recall your not supposed to boost our cars because it can screw up you airbag module which is not cheap

 

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INNOVA 3721 Battery and Charging System Monitor

 

In theory, yes. Having an external power source to replace/supply insufficient amperage in the cars battery to start the engine. And if it succeeds, could possibly prove a dead battery would be a cause of a no start concern. Why the battery died, that’s up for diagnosis.

problem is. When testing with a jumper/charger. Is the jumper sufficient enough to crank. Are the clamps correctly clamped to clean terminals. Are they clamped at the right locations for jumping. if using a battery charger, You definitely can’t start the car right away without letting the charger sit for a while to let it charge up the battery.

To keep it simple. you could quickly do a static voltage test on the battery. Just get a volt meter to check. Anything less than 12v static is considered dead. In your case. If the engine doesn’t even turn but you still have lights on. Should be seeing 8 To 11v Static. If voltage is 12.4-12.6v I would consider the battery to have sufficient pressure/voltage. But a load test (carbon pile test) would be needed to test it’s cca rating. As it is possible for batteries to have sufficient voltage but as soon as there is load, voltage drops.

 

I definitely agree, I recommend not to jump these cars. Safest way to charge or replace battery if needed. Test static voltage first, easiest one to do. That cigarette lighter one is a good way or just a DVOM.

 

I would not jumpier your car without using the 11 dollar tester Barry showed. It’s way better than the 10 dollar one by the look of it.

when my battery is fresh it never goes below 12.4 when cranking. Battery Starts at 13.2 I think but been a long winter

 

Can you describe the actual charger/jumper you are using? I thought they were either one or the other? You can't start a car using only a charger if your battery is flat.

The bad alternator theory is possible, but it seems odd to me that there were no symptoms, such as an alternator warning light, on your 60 mile drive.

What did you buy at Autozone for your hesitation problems?

Why did you change the battery? Did you change it yourself?

 

As I said before and others we need to know what your battery voltage is before cranking and during

 

Just a thought, I had a car that did this. It turned out that when I did work on the front and put the inter cooler and front bumper back, I pinched the horn wire and it was grounding to the chassis and draining the battery in 2 days. No amount of charging prevented it. It worked before I did the work so I went back and pulled it apart and there it was. If you did any work double check that first is all I am saying. If no work was done then disregard.

 

Measure the battery voltage with a volt meter. If it's under 12 V the battery is shot. If over 12V, take the battery to NAPA or Autozone or whoever and have it load tested.

 

Sounds good. That kills several birds with one stone.

3 years for a battery is crazy. Is it an Ultima?

 

As suggested, first check the voltage of the battery after charging, Better to disconnect the battery while charging and check the voltage not immediately but some half an hour after you have disconnected the charger. If it is about 12.5 -12.8 volt, and you still cannot crank the engine, I would first check the battery cable connections, clean the inside of the battery clamps, check the negative battery cable connection to the body and to the engine etc.

 

You can buy a new bad battery.

Pull battery charge with real charger not a trickle. Charge overnight.

Battery should read 12.45v but more like 12.6 in the morning. Anything less than 12.45 take it back to battery store get new one.

With 12.45+v start car. Then see if alternator works produucing about 14v+ at battery + to ground. Report back here

 

You sure your battery disconnect is working properly.

 

A battery with 12.20V is still over 50% charged and should be able to start a car, if the battery is good and just low. My 308 has not problem starting every spring with that level of charge. Going back to original post, "starter engaged for a split second and then all I would hear was click-click-click" is classic bad battery. I wouldn't be looking any further until that was confirmed one way or the other. Everything else is a waste of time until the battery is tested properly.