Q: Battery dies unexpectedly, turned off the car, went to turn it on 5 min later and battery had died.
I was delivering orders for a delivery service last night, so a lot of driving, shutting off the car, switching it back on a few minutes later and driving again. I had noticed that the engine was switching on slower than normal 2-3 times before it died. I stopped the car to deliver something, turned the engine off, put on the hazards because I was parked weird and got out. I was gone 5 minutes. When I returned, the lights and radio would switch on but, the engine wouldn't. We jumped the battery and it came on immediately, it switched on like normal this morning. My husband says I probably killed it by turning it on and off a lot in just a few hours, I think that sounds wrong.
My car has 105953 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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Hey there. The battery may not have been recharged between each stop if you were driving at night with heavy accessory load like the A/C and lights with the radio on. Each time you stop and shut off the vehicle then restart it you need to run the vehicle for at least 15 minutes to recharge the power used to restart the vehicle. If the battery is weak and low on available power then it may need to be replaced. Have the battery tested to see if it can handle a full load without dropping below 9.6 volts. Check the charging system also to see if it is charging to specifications. If you need help, you could have a local technician inspect the charging system and proceed with the battery replacement or alternator replacement as necessary.
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