Did some more cleaning and fixing up of the new-to-me '06 yesterday, and the tail light lens came in earlier than expected. Monday is windshield replacement, and then she'll be road ready for a few miles until later in the week when I scrape up the cash for new rubber on the corners. That said...
First, some background: I think this car has been waxed maybe 1 time, and the interior never treated to any care at all. The first couple of coats of Turtle interior protectant disappeared into the dash like water sprinkled onto desert sand, so yesterday I soaked the dash and all other plastic interior parts liberally and let it sit, not wiping it off, just letting it take in whatever it would take. A thin but total coverage, enough that a little dripped, but not like a soaking rainstorm. Then I spent an hour removing and scraping/cleaning the center console (it was *horrible*) before treating it the same. By then the lens was in, so I picked it up from home and swapped it with the broken part at the end of the day, finishing right after sunset.
What does this have to do with the subject/title?
Well, yesterday AM, and every time before - maybe 8-10 times so far in the past 3/4 days - that I have started the car since I charged up the (I know) old battery, it has started just fine and run well. Even in the evening, when I tested the bulbs in the tail fixture before bolting it in, she started right up, and I ran her for 3 or so minutes before shutting down again.
However, on putting everything away and getting ready to run to the store, a turn of the key resulted in only clicking noise from beneath the dash (*not* from the starter solenoid). I was befuddled. I tried a few times, turning off the radio and anything else that might be drawing current, and she just wouldn't start. Voltage at the battery, according to my digital multimeter, was 12.05 or so, low but not dead. Even so, I broke out my little portable jump starter, hooked it up, and she started up. But then she was idling low, 750 and below, jittery and almost stalling a few times before finally cutting off after 10 minutes or so of running. This led to an hour or two of me trying to figure out (removed) was going on. I was unable to figure it out before giving up, and again today she would not crank.
So my original Q - could a low battery cause this? Not just the non-starting, but the rough, low idle and shutting off part.
Or maybe did some Turtle crap get into a dash switch, causing a short? I accessed every one I could last night, including removing the steering housing and checking the wiring at the key switch, and while I saw a little (maybe) in some places, nothing looked wet to the point of dripping, or enough to cause a short.
I did spray some directly on/into the instrument holes of the dash, but not nearly as much as I put on the flat, simply plastic surfaces.
I know I could use a new battery, this one is 4 years old, but with the dozen or so starts it has done with no complaint, and usually being run long enough to replace any voltage used at starting, I'd been thinking that the battery was well enough that I could put off that expenditure for a few more days.
Thus my question, before I go drop the money on one - is that necessary, or is this an issue caused by the Turtle stuff, or maybe something else. That she ran fine for several days before yesterday, smooth idle and running, makes me think it related to something I did yesterday...
