Whats goooing onnnnnnn????? Ya, here is your chance to be smarter than me.

[hjr]

OK, so here is the deal. Im completely bamboozled. Normally i can figure out whats wrong with cars...

Sat>I tryed to start my car (90 VW jetta 16v). Nothing doing. Its completely dead. Nothing works, no lights or anything. Dead. So i got a friend to boost me. it turned over slowely but not enough to start. WTF? Try Push starting without luck as its slippery. So I leave it.

Sun>I get a ride to my parents and get some tools and whatnot (and a truck for going to my Monday morning exam) and i try and boost it off the truck. Turns over but it didnt work. So out comes the battery and i charge it for a few hours (it was at 11.6V. i put it to 12.4V) I throw it back in and nothing. ??? <(me). So i fiddle around with wires and pretend i know whats wrong. I had moved a starter wire that was close to the starter solinoid wire. I though that maybe they were arcing. Jump in and it starts up. Drive it for a few mins and park it. Try to start it again and sucess. its fixed.

Mon>Go out this morning to write my exam, car is dead again. Completely dead. No power. Nothing. I fiddle with wires but it doesnt work this time. I take the truck to exam and wonder: WTF is going on?

Anybody have a problem like this before? I fure its grounding somewhere or maybe a cracked bat. post cable or something. I really dont know.

[RickDaTuner]

there is defenitly aexposed wire or a connection that draws bigs amp in close proximity to a ground orin full contact with the Ground usally this happens when there is a Big Arc in the cars electrical system, you on the right track the only problem is where on that track is the problem I would say take some time to go hand by hand through all the main Power wiring

[hooligan]

Something is grounding out, find it, don't be lazy and look,
it could be a million things, my friends fuel pump grounded out and it took us forever to figure out what was draining it.

[Primer_Drift]

Heres my thoughts:
It sounds like you have a bad ground (possibly broken battery wires) AND OR a dead cell in your battery. Trying to boost a car with a flat battery is like trying to fill a tire with a big hole in it. Its a significant draw on the amperage coming in, which is why it turned over so slowly. A dead cell will allow the battery to charge but will consequently drain itself trying to even the charge accoss the non responsive cell. Its worth a shot to check the battery and wires out. Good luck

[T5Bird]

Could very weel be corrosion as well, check your voltage across the post, then across the terminals, then at the solenoid and so on when you have a no-start condition. Same thing happened on my neigbors truck, voltage was good across the posts, and then a slight drop across the terminals, but a major drop where the cable exits the terminal. There was a huge amount of corrosion there, so we cut the cable 1" shorter, installed new terminals, and cleaned everything up and it starts like new.

[hjr]

so my worst fears are confirmed. There is a short somewhere in the system. Im not sure where. It is constantly drawing off the battery (quite a bit too). My drivers rear power window has stopped working so that is the place I'll start. I have pulled all the fuses and relays and checked them with no luck.

My question is, am i in for a bitch of a time finding the short, or is there some magical secret that an electrical guru can help me out with?

[Dr. Lightspeed]

Throw a dvom across the positive and negative pull the coil wire and have a friend crank that engine over. I am betting that the voltage drops below 8V. Put a different battery into the car bet your problem is solved. I am betting the battery is done. The bat is holding a surface charge only.

[cablepower_9]

good idea - use a different battery from any car - fast and easy - see if problem is the same or different. also - starter solenoid; have it checked, it "starts" the starter.

wiring & electronics = if it takes you more than a day or two to f with it and no results, gather $100 and go to the best specialist in town (unless your car is brand new/under warranty - go to dealer). you may even get a free estimate and some diagnostics.

1. you will find out what the problem is

2. you may be able to fix it yourself cheaply or expensively

2a. they may be able to fix it for you cheaply or expensively if you cannot do it

you cannot escape the thick money required for certain parts. make sure you shop the internet and compare prices on parts before you go to a shop.

imho - anything more than basic electrical should be left to pros

[Primer_Drift]

Check wires that run into your doors, the plastic wire coating often cracks and breaks in cold weather, shorting out the wires inside the bundle.

[hjr]

Alright, here is a little more info, it has a brand spankin new starter in it. When i leave the battery connected, it goes dead quite quickly. I left it unhooked last night with no loss. It started in the morning. This means its drawing current while connected. It seems to be drawing a lot too.

When i took out the fuse for my radio, the draw went significantly down (but didnt dissapear). This leads me to assume that there is an issue with the radio (i had already disconected my amp).

As for a shop, thats my last resort. Im not idiot when it comes to cars. The thing is that if i do send it to a shop they will be doing the same thing as me! Just working down the list.

Thanks for the advice though.

[german]

it would have been worse had it not started at all... replacing modules is damn expensive