Hi All,

My son has been using our 2000 DII as his daily driver since getting his license last June. So far, he loves it and it has been relatively trouble free.

Two days ago, he told me he had trouble getting it started after school. He said when he turned the key, nothing happened - at all. No clicks, nothing. He kept trying it for 10 minutes or so and finally it came to life and started. It ran fine, but he said the clock had reset and the temperature on the HVAC display had reverted to celcius - as if the battery had been disconnected.

It was fine yesterday getting him to and from school, but did it again this morning in our driveway. I went out to investigate after he had tried to start it, and sure enough, it was as if the battery had been disconnected - no dome lights, dash lights, or anything. I popped the hood to check the battery cables to make sure they were seated (we had changed the battery last week and I wanted to make sure we hadn't forgotten to tighten the clamps). I was wiggling them around and my son announced that the dome lights had come on. So, he tried to start again and there was a single loud click and everything went dark again.

At that point he had to get to school so he took another vehicle and that's where we left it. Any ideas on what could be going on? The loud click makes me think that some breaker is tripping, but I don't know enough about the Disco electrical layout to know which one, where it is, or what could be causing it to trip. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike in Durham, NC

 

Check grounds and connections something is loose and causing you to loose power. Just spend a few more minutes tracking ground and power leads and you will find a loose connector.

 

I've found loose battery cables causing similar conditions many times in the past. Grab the battery cable at the battery and try twisting it, if it moves then you need to remove the cable, clean it and reinstall. Do this with both cables. If you happen to have those little felt washer things under the battery cables (intended to reduce corrosion) throw them away, they prevent the clamp from going far enough down on the post to allow them to tighten properly.

 

If all the connections under the hood are good then move inside. My 00 DII was doing the same thing a few weeks ago. i checked all connections at the battery and even put the battery itself on my charger/tester to find no issue. I then went and pulled the passenger side kick panel (easy to remove) and made sure that all the connectors to all the boxes there (ECU) were secure. After that problem went away and never came back.

 

Thanks all for the tips. I did a bit more checking and the negative battery cable appeared to be the problem. Replaced it today and all is well. I did a little post-mortem on the old cable and found some (mildly) interesting results. The problem was with the terminal clamp. If you'd like to see details, I did a short write up here:

Home Shop Diary: Automotive Interlude

Again, I appreciate the help!

Best,
Mike in Durham, NC

 

Great! Nothing like a little time under the hood with your son away from video games, computers, Mom's chore list, etc. What happens in the garage stays in the garage...

 

I had that same problem in my 99 driving while through Idaho. Couldn't get those darn cables tight enough. Finally wedged a paperclip between the post and clamp on my negative and it kept me going for another 4 days before I could put on a new clamp on.
Also a month after I got my 04 I had the same problem with the positive clamp not wanting to tighten enough. I'd recommend going on and replacing the positive clamp too just in case. It's never fun being stranded over such a little problem.

 

don't ever tighten it too much.
In this case snug is good enough.

Get your hand on the terminal and try to twist if off.
If you can't twist it off - it is tight enough.