HarryD

During a Robbins top install, I had turned the ignition to the ON position (II) and OFF multiple times to move the top up/down over the course of the weekend.

Mostly done with the Robbins top install, but seats are still out. Battery died. I jumped with another car, battery charges, but car won't crank. Lights/radio/etc. all work. No weak cranking at all (dur dur dur dur). Just one crank and dead.

Seats are out, seatbelts are uncoiled. Is there an obvious protective mechanism (immobilizer?) that prevents the car from starting here?

Or could I have flooded my pistons with gas -- I'm worried turning the ignition ON/OFF multiple times -- does that spray the cylinders with gas each time?

windhund116

Pull the spark plugs & see if they are wet with gas. Maybe, let plugs and cylinders evaporate excess unburnt gas. Try again in a few hours?

Good luck!

Billman250

“One crank and dead” is a battery. Charge yours.

Your jumper cables are too small.

Car Analogy

The alligator clamps on jumper cables don't have much metal to etal contact to your battery terminals. This limits the amount of current that can flow from the good battery. The length, and how skinny the cables might be, also limit.

If the dead battery is only partly dead (weak), then this limited extra current from jump is usually more than enough to start the car. Your getting most of the juice from the weak battery, the battery jumping you fills in the rest.

But if your battery is very weak, there just isn't going to be enough available juice from the other guys battery to make up the difference. In that case, you can just leave the good car running for a few minutes, and that should charge up the weak battery enough so that between the two, there is enough. Run the good car for a while, so its charging sysyem charges up your battery some, then try again.

If the battery is really dead, it might not take a charge anymore. In this case, jump start isn't going to work no matter how long you try charging from the other car.

If the battery is really dead, but will still take a charge, you really shouldn't jump start it. The sudden rush of charging from the other car, then from your cars charging system once engine starts, is going to damage your battery and shorten its life. If its that dead, you should charge it up using a smart charger, like a Battery Tender, that will charge at a rate that won't cause additional damage beyond what you've already done letting it get that low.

Only jumpstart a really dead battery if your car is stranded. Otherwise hook up a charger.

Next time, hook up battery charger before you start any work where prolonged battery drain will occur.

HarryD

Thanks everyone. Getting it charged now, and already shopping for a batter tender for the next project. Lesson learned!