So I left my two dome lights on Friday night until around 1130a Saturday morning, all was well, the car started right up. Drove to work and back with no issues. Went to leave Sunday around 2p, the car unlocked and the instrument cluster came on like usual but when I went to start the car all lights shut off and no start. Got a jump went out for awhile Sunday evening with no problems.

Monday I go to leave for work around 11a with no issues, no issues leaving, stop at Pep boys to get wiper fluid and the car does the exact same thing when I went to leave. I was sitting in the car waiting for a jump then all lights come back on for a second but after I tried to crank the engine I got the same thing. Lights off and no start. Tried leaving this morning with all the same issues, took the battery to be tested after work and it's fully charged which tells me the battery is obviously fine as well as the alternator so I get home and hook the battery back up and the car fires right up

My guess was that maybe the connections were dirty but they were free of dirt and corrosion. I followed the positive wire to the starter which after running was pretty flimsy and warm. The other wire that runs under the fuse box was pretty stiff and cool to the touch.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm pretty dumb when it comes to electricity but maybe some kind of wiring?

 

I believe it was just low battery. You charged it back up and it works fine so nothing to do now but if it dies again, i'd consider getting another battery to rule that out.

 

If all of the lights went off and stayed off...I would lean towards a bad connection. My positive terminal was corroded and loose and did this to me for a week or so before I figured it out. I was about to buy a new battery when I found the bad connection. I could unlock the car, get in, put the key in, all lights looked good, turn the key, all goes dark. It stayed dark until I got out and shut the door, and then lights came back on. That is when I started hunting for a bad connection.

If a bad/dead battery, rarely will the lights go off and stay off. They will usually dim way down or flicker.

I haven't had too much battery troubles on the TL, but here are my usual parking lots checks to test for a dead battery vs something else:

1.) Turn headlights on
-- bright - that is a good sign
-- dim - weak battery
-- none - bad connection or completely dead battery

2.) Attempt to start car
-- starts - woohoo!! go home.
-- clicks - dead battery
-- fail - single click, all dark and no lights come back on after...bad connection
-- fail - no start, but lights come back on after...dead battery

 

I'm leaning towards a poor connection as well. The car started right up this morning but when it didn't start the past couple days the lights turned off and stayed off even if I got out of the car and came back to it later.

I'm going to clean the terminals and connectors really well today and see how it does. They look really good (battery is only three months old and the positive connector maybe a month old).

 

That info would have been very useful in the beginning

 

Yeah I actually had it in there then cut it out to paste elsewhere and completely forgot about it