I was out the other day and my battery died. Someone gave me a jump and now my doors won't lock! Does anyone have any idea what to do or what happened? Thanks for the info!

 

I'd check for a popped fuse...may have been coincidence....may have been where teh battery ran down (door lock solenoid stayed engaged...should be a circuit breaker, I think, but memory is hazy)

GeorgeC
Red/Red 92

 

yep, check for any blown fuses.

 

I completely agree 100%. You probably popped a fuse when your car was jumped. Too coincidental otherwise.

 

Charge your battery up at least overnight. You might still have a discharged battery and it won't work the door locks. You can tell the state of charge in your battery by measuring the battery terminal voltage under no load. 12.9 volts and higher, fully charged. 12.0 volts and lower, discharged and linear in between. I hope you don't think that your alternator charged your battery up all the way on the way home because you would be wrong. You may have a battery that is at the end of its life and cannot hold a charge any longer, but still always charge your battery up fully with a battery charger. The alternator charges a dead battery with high current which heats the alternator and shortens its life. Always charge a battery up with a battery charger! Measure your battery to see what its state of charge is.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

After talking to a guy today about jump starting, he stated that those of us with modern cars(anything with a computer), we shouldn't jump start our cars ever, unless we are using on of those jump boxes which are designed to take the spikes(or something like that)

 

That guy is wrong! It is safe to jump start your car, just make sure you have the cables connected with the correct polarity, THAT will kill a lot of your electronics, but not with the correct polarity.

 

with what the guy said, it can be costly if the ECM gets a spike.

 

NEver charge a dead battery on any car with the alternator. You may need to replace the battery and alternator.

 

 

I doubt it, he's in the business and a GM Tech said the same thing.

 

Well prove to me otherwise and I'll agree.

 

Well, I am not quite sure about "proving" anyone wrong, proving being the operative word. However, I cannot think of any reason why an automobile cannot be successfully and safely jumped started off another battery, providing of course, it is accomplished in the correct manner.

The various Towing/Roadside Assistance organizations will all come and jump start your vehicle. All auto lots seem to have one of the battery packs to jump start a car on the lot.

The newer GM models that I know of all have a remote, separate positive post which is used to provide even more safety while jump starting.

If all these facets are available to accomplish this task, and it works, then why would there be cause for alarm that it cannot, or should not, be done.

Now I do know that a completely dead battery should not be jump started, but that falls into the procedures of doing it safely.

You know, electrically, a remote battery connected to a vehicle by jumper cables is in effect the same as being in the car.

Computers have been controlling things in our cars for more than 20 years now and most computers have surge protectors built in, or fuses to protect them, or fuse links, ... engineered safety precautions.

I just don't see why jump starting it would not be recommended and actually I have never seen it printed in an owner's amnual to not jump the vehicle.

No "proof", just logic.....