Dude, have you forgotten it's a manual? Push start it and let it recharge itself. If it doesn't work then get a new battery.

 

okay, i jumped started the car thanks to my roomate. it fired up. i let it run for 5 minutes. tried to start it again solo... starter struggled to turn the motor.

hooked it back up to roomate's car again... this time... starter struggled to turn motor again... no matter how long i kept it jumped/hooked...

so definitely the battery is bad? can i invoke my CPO warranty on this? damn battery shouldnt die after 2 years

 

check your grounds theres a good chance that one is loose and the circut is open

 

I would stay away from the Optima yellow top.....I've gone through 2 of them already. First one lasted 13 months 11 days, second one lasted 1 year 3 days.

Scott-

 

Test your battery at Autozone or some other store.

 

You should try jumping it, and see if it dies again. Could it be you left a light on over night? If it dies again then you need a new one.

 

So you've proven the voltmeter works
What does it read?
You need three readings.
1. Voltage with car off. Should be around 12v
2. Voltage with car cranking. Minimum point? Does it stay over 8-10V or drop down to 3V. If it goes way down, then you need a new battery.
3. Voltage at idle. Should be over 13V but 14V would be optimal. If it is equal to or lower than #1, then you have a bad alternator.

Also dirty terminals alone could cause this symptom, so definately clean them and try again.

[QUOTE=smurf2k,Sep 27 2007, 09:34 PM], so maybe a connection got shorted somewhere?

 

Voltage means absolutely nothing when it comes to car batteries. I've seen batteries reading 14.4 with the car OFF, and couldn't start the car. My optima was reading 9.8volts yesterday (car wasn't driven for almost 3 weeks) but after 2 cranks, the car fired up. It's the amps that matter. 99.9% your battery is done. Sometimes, they last 5 years, sometimes, its 2, etc. You never know. Just grab a diehard at sears, or a duralast gold from autozone and call it a day.

 

Yep, amperage is the key.

Cranking amperage actually. I experienced this a lot with my Sea Doo eating through battery power because of a short somewhere. I'd come back after the weekend and it would be low. Attempting to use a jump box also did not work as it simply did not have enough amperage to move the engines under compression.

Check the amperage while cranking and you'll get a good answer for yourself, as instructed in the posts above. Good luck!