Stalls and won't restart

[Jeremie Cherwinski]

Have a 1997 Cadillac STS. Started up just fine this morning but after a few minutes it stalled and would not restart. Acted like a dead battery when trying to restart it. Got it to start a second time after hooking up jumper cables from a second vehicle but still stalled after a few minutes. Weather has been exceptionally cold lately and it did sit a whole day. Battery is only a couple years old.

Any thoughts on what the problem is?

[KHE]

Sounds like the battery has failed.

[cdgrinci]

Agree with KHE; at least (battery) would be the first thing to check (okay, maybe battery cables for tightness). It sounds as maybe you've lost a cell (in the battery) or an internal failure (an 'open' in the battery). If you have a voltmeter, check your static voltage (battery, engine off); you'll want to see at least 12 volts (but even then, it could still be the battery failing under load).

[guyslp]

Also check your alternator output as well. The car should not be depending on the battery for anything other than starting. Once it's running the alternator should have taken over producing all the "juice" the car needs, even at idle.

You could have a bad battery or an OK battery that's running down because the charging system isn't working. I know on my 1999 Jag the OBD system does not monitor charging status and the car is not equipped with a warning light related to charging status.

Also make sure that all your battery cables and terminals are assiduously clean and then coat them with electrically conductive grease (e.g., No-Ox-Id or Ox-Guard) to keep them that way. I once had a charging problem that was the result of the negative battery cable having not been bolted down correctly. The car would still start with ease, but if you measured charging voltage at the battery it was only 12V when it should be 14V. After several weeks of this the battery was, as expected, no longer charged enough to even crank the car.

Brian