Car died while driving and won't jump start
The vehicle loses electrical power while running, causing battery lights to illuminate and electronics to slow down before the engine completely shuts off. Because the system is drained and voltage fluctuates wildly, the car will not hold a jump start. This leaves owners on a tight budget stuck guessing which exact parts to buy so a friend can repair it.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Attempting a jump start using jump connections under the hoodDid this help you?
- 2Parking the vehicle in a temporary safe spotDid this help you?
- 3Using a jumpstarter to check voltage and get the vehicle temporarily running.Did this help you?
- 4Using an OBD2 reader to check for diagnostic codes.Did this help you?
- 5Consulting roadside assistance mechanics for preliminary diagnoses.Did this help you?
- 6Taking the alternator to an auto parts store for bench testing.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Yesterday my 2014 dodge grand caravan died on me while running. Lights started flickering, wipers were slow and windows were rolling up slowly before the engine just turned off.”source ↗
“My jumpstarter read the battery voltage at 11.8-11.9 while not running, once we jumpstarted the vehicle, the voltage would jump back and forth from 13.4 to 11.8 before eventually dying.”source ↗
“Any advice or suggestions much appreciated, I need to have this fixed soon as possible but so lost on where or how to go about this. I’d rather buy the parts myself and have a friend fix it but no idea what to buy.”source ↗
“ive had alternator issues on another car and if it dies from not charging it can throw alot of codes for not working/low voltage for every module”source ↗
“The car turned on, as I started driving some lights came on including battery light.”source ↗
“Then the car died. It will not start anymore.”source ↗
“Someone was kind enough to give a jump, but the jump did not help.”source ↗
“I am on a tight budget and would like to have a clear idea of what I am likely dealing with.”source ↗
Where this came up
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