Hi. I know nothing about cars & need some help with this issue I'm having with my 2007 4cylinder Sebring...It sat for about 10 months w/o being started & no amount of charging would revitalize the battery, so I bought a new one & had it installed, but it still will not start. The dash lights come on, but nothing else seems to work, not even the windows. Is there anything I should check for/try to reset, etc. like a theft deterrent system or even something else? I really cannot afford to bring it into the dealer, being a single parent, & I just want to sell it now that it's paid off because I got another vehicle that doesn't have all the problems I had with the Sebring. Any & all suggestions appreciated! Thanks so much...

 

Modern cars have over 30,000 parts, hundreds of which are involved in starting and running. So a question like "My car won't start, what could it be?" is not going to have a simple answer.
Begin the process by hooking up a good code scanner and see if there are error codes. Neither the dealer nor anyone here can do anything about your single parent status so referring to that particular problem doesn't help.

 

Thank you for your kind reply. I suppose I deserve your rather haughty answer due to having left out the fact that the car ran fine the last time it was driven, although it did have a low battery at the time & did require charging before it was able to be driven. Other than that easily remedied issue, it was drivable. Therefore, I assumed that it may be a fuse or perhaps a theft deterrent device that had a problem due to the battery having been completely dead &/or removed. I did refer to my supposedly problematic "single parent status", for the simple fact that I do not have the money at this time to tow this vehicle to the dealer & then pay to have it "fixed" (especially since they didn't "fix" the recall problem I brought it in for last time) & if it could possibly be something as simple as what'd I'd mentioned, then I could save myself the trouble. If not, I will just opt to sell it as is. I am not just refusing to take it to the dealer because I don't want to shell out the money, in other words... I came here looking for help, because I realize that automotive repair isn't my strong suit, & so thought it best to seek out advice from someone more experienced. That seems to be part of the purpose that most forums serve. I obviously don't belong here, as I can't even honestly say that I'm a Chrysler enthusiast, considering what a pain this car has been since the beginning with all the recalls & whatnot...Please disregard my ignorance & accept my apology for wasting your time.

 

Steady La Tomboygirl. You might yet get a response from someone that experienced a similar issue. Since it started fine prior to the 10 month storage, and will not start even with a new fully charged battery, there might be a simple explanation. I wish I could help. Hopefully you might catch a break from a Tech on the forum. Best of luck.

 

Are you sure the battery is good? i would have it tested. Does it make any noise at all when trying to start? I is in Park,right? Who replaced the battery? are the cables all connected and tifght? is there any corrosion on the terminals?

 

First off, thanks for the encouragement. I'm pretty much out of my element, but am trying to learn more. I bought a new DuraLast Gold battery & had it installed by my boyfriend who is really more of a computer tech guy & so has less hands-on car repair experience than some, but is willing & good with changing oil, batteries & other straightforward tasks, so I'm thinking it was tight enough & installed correctly. The terminals, including the remote ones, were all clean & free of corrosion as well. Is there a chance that the battery could be defective? I didn't ask them to test it before I left the store. It was quite a chore to replace due to the location behind the left front fender guard, but if need be, I could take it back to be tested/exchanged... the wipers, radio, windows & dash lights all work, but it doesn't make any sound when I turn the key & the battery light IS on in the instrument panel... I did call the dealer, who told me that it is definitely not a fuse & that it certainly could be the theft deterrent system, although when I look online it says that it only has the Smartkey system in place, but the guy said that sometimes after a while the key's code won't work anymore...have you ever heard of that? It does still lock/unlock when pressing the buttons on the key though. Any more ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

"it certainly could be the theft deterrent system, although when I look online it says that it only has the Smartkey system in place, but the guy said that sometimes after a while the key's code won't work anymore"

Dang frustrating and I wish I knew more. I have a hunch your on the right track with the above thoughts. Since you have power everywhere else (and it started fine B4) I'm thinking it's a key recognition deal. Having trouble believing the starter/ignition system went bad just sitting for 10 months. Possible defective battery but......dunno.

Let's hope someone has a simple solution here. Best o luck!

 

It absolutely CAN be a fuse. I think what he was getting at is that since the car sat for so long without power, the Sentry Key module may have locked up (AKA will not wake up from dormant state). That is something that is very common with these as well as CCN (instrument clusters) Doing a discharge by touching the battery terminals together (DISCONNECTED FROM BATTERY OF COURSE) for 15-30 minutes may wake it back up. It works about 60% of the time.

What is the reason it sat for so long anyway?

 

The short answer to that is that I got another, more dependable vehicle & wasn't sure what to do about selling a car w/ so many issues, so it just sat, but I need to go ahead & make a move, but really am still not feeling at ease about selling it to someone.

The extended version is this:The gear shift broke within 2 weeks after I bought the car as a 2 year old vehicle still under warantee w/ under 30,000 miles on it, (this specific recall came out in the last year or 2)...Then later the car started shutting itself completely off while driving, just at what appeared to be random times w/o any cause whatsoever. It always seemed to be when I would take my foot off the gas in order to let it decelerate, & just be cruising along smoothly, then put my foot back on the gas & the car had completely turned itself off unbeknownst to me ...no power steering or anything. I would just have to try to get to the side of the road & put it into park & restart it. Obviously a pretty scary thing to have happen especially when you have 2 young children in the car!

At that point I looked up recalls on the car & saw where there had been a recall due to tire pressure wires not being properly sealed off which could allow moisture into the electrical system & cause problems (my car IS equipped w/ the tire pressure sensor however). I called the 1-800 number & talked to someone who said that my car had supposedly been fixed as per the recall mandate, but that all the things that I was describing sounded just like another woman he had spoken to just the day before who lived in my same city & had her car's recall repair work done by the same dealership as I had, & she was also having the exact same issues! And that these were not the only 2 cases where he'd heard of this. Perhaps it was not fixed properly?

I went & spoke to the repair department at the only other Dodge dealership in my area, & he said they would take a look at the current shifter recall item(s), but that the tire pressure wires would have nothing at all to do w/ the issues that I described & that the recall operator didn't know what he was talking about, so that was that.

Also, the a/c doesn't work, & when I took it to have it fixed at a very reputable local place that specializes in auto a/c repair, they told me that they didn't know why it wouldn't work, & I mentioned that it had been having what seemed to be electrical problems, & they said that that would explain why, because there was nothing wrong with the compressor & it wasn't leaking coolant. Of course, that was the lesser of the 2, but it still is a major inconvenience in the 100 degree + La. heat... so that's the long & the short of it...Thanks again for your help & concern.

 

Hi , I know this may sound dumb, beleive me, I once had a simmilar issue this winter with my sons Toyota battery, it read 21 volts all the time. After much ado and cut along storey short, take the battery out and back to the shop and get them to do a LOAD test. This will tell you if it is good. Also try removng the battery wires and reinstaling them; Also try to jump start from another car with the other car engine running.
Good luck..I really suspect your battery or its connections, and not the car if it worked fine before.