Greetings. I searched the knowledge base and found some insights with battery problems, but my issue is a little different and am hoping for some help.

'99 TL 3.2 (non-nav) starts consistently, but if I turn the key to ACC/On position to run the radio without the car started, then the car won't restart. This happened again this morning and I only had the key in the On position for maybe 2 mins, before trying to restart. Just get the repetative clicking. Car responds instantly to a jump and restarts fine after that. This only occurs if I want to listen to the radio or something without running the engine. Terminals are clean and tight.

I'm using the old, "Well, just don't do that" fix right now. Ideas?

 

How old is the battery, though? If you've had this happen several times the battery might be permanently damaged.

 

I don't know how old the battery is. I just bought the car and am working thru all the little things a seller with spotty service history doesn't mention. It's a Duralast, so I'll take it over to AutoZone and have it tested. It's the intermittent nature of the problem that baffled me. Thought it might have been a bad solenoid or something like that... Thanks for the reply. It's appreciated.

 

needs a battery it is weak , but still strong enough to start the car when not drained from loads
also i would get a interstate battery, they last the longest, in colorado they geneally last 6-7 years, and even then are only just needing replacement

 

Had the charging system checked at an Interstate dealer and sure enough the battery was in failure mode. All other starting components checked out AOK. Bought the MT-24, MegaTron II battery from Interstate. Practically starts itself now. Thanks for the help, guys.

 

long time no see.