I've owned my Protege for a year and a half and like it. I jump started a guy stuck in a parking lot yesterday.

Went in, did my shopping and the car wouldn't start upon return.

Jumped it and it started no prob.

Went home, dropped things and it wouldn't start again. (Zero ignition/starting probs the whole time I've owned the car.)

Jumped it again then drove it for 45 mins at high speed (50-70). Got home. Parked. Two mins later, no start.

Bought a new battery (desperate to get it running). No start.

Left it over night.

This morning...No start.

The odo blinked and flashed for a few secs and now it's completely dead.

Anyone have insight beyond, "You shouldn't jump someone"? (Lesson learned.)

There's no click. Nothing. The guy at Autozone said the batt was bad (hard to believe because there's been no prob before) and said the starter might've been damaged.

I'm in need of repairing it quickly and am hoping it might be something simple.

Any insight'll be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

What kind of car did you jump?

How old was the old battery? Did you load test the new battery? If yes and it failed, your new battery is bad. While you're at it, check your battery cables and connections at both ends (at the starter and ground).

Also check your charging system.

Nothing wrong with giving someone a jump. That was a kind thing to do. Just make sure you hook up the cables properly.

As for your starter, better hope it's OK. I had to change the one in our '03 and that was quite a pain.

 

Rule of thumb for starting system is that if you're not hearing a click, your starter motor is toast. BUT if you helped jump someone a lot it could just have fried the fuse. Check that first.

 

Hopefully youve gotten it figured out by now ? If not it can be a few things u might have a power wire from alternator touching ground. Or the alternator could be shorted inside. There's a gear selector switch inside console could be failing or even the ignition switch itself. Check all fuses and make sure they are good. Load test the battery with a proper meter or u might have to bring it in somewhere to do that. Check all cables to and from battery to alternator and starter. If u know how and have a multimeter check to see you have 12v going to starter relay on starter. If you have it ,you can jump the bolts on relay, with key switch on, use a screwdriver to jump the across the bolts and see if starter tries to start . If not give it a smack on metal part of body if it goes then you could have bad brushes inside. Could have been you gotten a surge somehow giving the jump, back through alternator and its shorted. If you can it run car remove + cable and see if car continues to run then the alternator is keeping it running. Test at battery before this and see you should have abt 14.2 volts at battery when car is running. Good luck

 

Thanks for the advice!