I think my battery conked out literally after I shut my car (2000 Subaru Outback Limited wagon) down tonight coming home from work.
It started this morning on my way to work. My dash panel lights seemed a little dim, but I didn't think much of it. I drove onto work, about 30 miles away, the car did fine. The car set in the parking garage at work all day, (8am-5pm) and when I came out at 5:00 to leave, it started right up. I also stopped at the market on the way home, again it started right up. As I got closer to home, my lights seemed a little dimmer than usual, but again, I thought maybe my headlight lens were hazing over again since cleaning them in the summer.
I finally get home and back up into my parking space in front of the house. I shut the car off and get out and realize I parked the car a little too close to the wall in the driveway and being off tomorrow for the holiday (and not using it tomorrow), I decide to move it to keep it out of the way. Well when I went to turn over the engine, it just clicked (very faintly) and wouldn't turn over at all. The headlights seemed to dim down a little. I thought maybe it was the neutral switch, so I ran it through the gears and put in "N", still no change. When I would depress the brake, the radio would go off for about 3 seconds, then resume (I still had the radio on from where I had just turned the car off). I then could NOT get the key to turn back to the "lock" position to remove the key! It was like it was stuck. Out of frustration I go in for a few minutes and come back out and try again... this time it actually cranks, but very slowly and the lights dimming way down. The cables look a little corroded (which I was unaware of), so I am not sure if that is the problem or if the battery has just conked out. My dad looked and he said that he thought it said it was installed a year ago (11/13), but it looks much older than that to me, plus the lady I got it from in July told me that her mechanic told her that the battery would need to be changed soon. I will look at the date myself as well, my dad may have misread it. I had planned on relaxing tomorrow, but looks like I will be cleaning battery terminals/cables and/or getting a new battery. I am just glad I made it home. It was strange though that it was good enough to keep the car running with no warning light, then I shut it off and it will not even crank at all, then my key not wanting to turn off. Maybe it was just something to do with the electrical system being low on power causing crazy things? Hopefully it isn't the ignition switch shorting out or something. I am just thankful I made it home with no fanfare. I was losing a lot of power coming home, headlights, blower from the heater and even the seat heater (as it was in the 40s).
Thanks.
It started this morning on my way to work. My dash panel lights seemed a little dim, but I didn't think much of it. I drove onto work, about 30 miles away, the car did fine. The car set in the parking garage at work all day, (8am-5pm) and when I came out at 5:00 to leave, it started right up. I also stopped at the market on the way home, again it started right up. As I got closer to home, my lights seemed a little dimmer than usual, but again, I thought maybe my headlight lens were hazing over again since cleaning them in the summer.
I finally get home and back up into my parking space in front of the house. I shut the car off and get out and realize I parked the car a little too close to the wall in the driveway and being off tomorrow for the holiday (and not using it tomorrow), I decide to move it to keep it out of the way. Well when I went to turn over the engine, it just clicked (very faintly) and wouldn't turn over at all. The headlights seemed to dim down a little. I thought maybe it was the neutral switch, so I ran it through the gears and put in "N", still no change. When I would depress the brake, the radio would go off for about 3 seconds, then resume (I still had the radio on from where I had just turned the car off). I then could NOT get the key to turn back to the "lock" position to remove the key! It was like it was stuck. Out of frustration I go in for a few minutes and come back out and try again... this time it actually cranks, but very slowly and the lights dimming way down. The cables look a little corroded (which I was unaware of), so I am not sure if that is the problem or if the battery has just conked out. My dad looked and he said that he thought it said it was installed a year ago (11/13), but it looks much older than that to me, plus the lady I got it from in July told me that her mechanic told her that the battery would need to be changed soon. I will look at the date myself as well, my dad may have misread it. I had planned on relaxing tomorrow, but looks like I will be cleaning battery terminals/cables and/or getting a new battery. I am just glad I made it home. It was strange though that it was good enough to keep the car running with no warning light, then I shut it off and it will not even crank at all, then my key not wanting to turn off. Maybe it was just something to do with the electrical system being low on power causing crazy things? Hopefully it isn't the ignition switch shorting out or something. I am just thankful I made it home with no fanfare. I was losing a lot of power coming home, headlights, blower from the heater and even the seat heater (as it was in the 40s).
Thanks.