This morning my car wouldn't start. It would click, so I assumed it was the battery. However, I had someone jump it at my apartment and it didn't work until I put it in neutral and he pushed it a foot...then it started like normal. Fast forward to 30 minutes later, I turned my car off. It wouldn't start, yet again. I had two separate people try and jump me, this time it didn't even show an inkling of power. No dashboard lights, nothing. We pushed it about 50 feet into a parking spot, and right after that (after showing no signs of life), it turned on. I went to work for 3 1/2 hours. Came out, turned my car on, it worked. Then I got back to my apartment...and it shut down RIGHT when i turned it off. I only had enough power to lock it. Now I CAN'T unlock it. My key won't even open it, on both the driver's side and passenger door. Now, earlier today I thought it might be the starter, since I had to push it in neutral twice before it worked. But now I can't even get INTO my car. I can't pop the hood, nothing. anyone know what's wrong? It's a brand new battery thats been checked several times at Wal-Mart and they say it's perfectly fine. I have to be back at work at 4:30 so I guess I'll have my roommate take me. But man...I don't know what to do!
So... what do you mean by "I can't get into the car" ? Instead of using the power locks, can't you insert the key into the door lock?
There is your trouble! Ford Taurus! Get a Toyota or Honda ASAP. Is it possible that it is the transmission? Taurus is famous for transmission problems.
Oh... sorry.. I just re-read your post.... Weird! You can't manually unlock the doors..... hmmmm.... thinking out loud ... a short in the electrical system may have the powerlocks preventing you from manually unlocking your doors. Disconnect one of the battery terminals. This should drop electricity to the entire car and you hopefully can unlock your doors manually from there (and, if you get into your car, roll down your windows so that you don't get stuck again).
It won't even unlock manually!! I don't know what to do! both me and my roommate tried...it won't open.
Its the Alternator..... You need to change it, somehow there is a short at the Alternator... Happened to my friend but I still can't figure why you can't unlock the doors?
The alternator has to do with the battery, right? The door thing is what I'm concerned about. I know that if I pushed my car in neutral, then it would start, and I could at least take it to a mechanic. The problem NOW is the fact that I can't even get in my car. Sigh...
Yup - the alternator is really just a battery charger. It takes takes mehcanical energy from the car, turns it into electrical energy, and charges the battery with it. hmmm....
Well, I'm not very knowledgeable about how to break into a car (without damaging it). I guess you could open the trunk and see if you can get in by pushing through the back seat. Only other thought I have is to get a locksmith out there to slim jim it.
I doubt it is the alternator. If your car starts after a jump and stays running until you turn it off, your alternator is more than likely fine (in theory, you can start your car, take out the battery, and your vehicle will run; once the vehicle is started, it gets most of its power from the alternator; if the alternator is bad, then the vehicle tries to run all its electrical systems from the battery; so if the alternator is bad, once the battery is dead, the car will die) Now, with the problems you are experiencing with the car running/not running/not starting depending on whether it is in park or neutral, I would suspect the switch/sensor that prevents your car from being started while it is in gear is faulty. This is probably the same reason why you can't unlock the doors. In some vehicles, the door locks are disabled when the car is in gear. It is possible that the ignition safety switch and the door lock disable mechanism are one in the same (not totally sure on that though).
Ooooo.. good thinking! Think there's any way she could intentionally short out a fuse that might drop power to the sensor and allow her to unlock her doors?
