GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Good Morning; I am hopeful someone can help me out here. Our vibe when we turn the key generates a click, then all power goes out on the car, no dash lights, radio, the locks do not work. the car takes about 20 minutes before we can see power again. I checked the battery and have a full charge, i checked the starter, in fact we thought that was the cause and i replaced it for a new one. I put an OBD2 unit on, and all it says is TDC Top Dead Center? Thank you for any assistance

It sure sounds like a bad battery. How old is it? How did you check it? A full charge, at rest, will read 12.8 Volts. 12.4 Volts and below is mostly discharged. And is your meter calibrated?

What is the voltage when the starter is engaged? It could be the battery, bad cables, poor connections, etc..... Did you pull cables at both ends, clean, and make sure the cables are tight?

I agree that it sounds like either a bad battery or a bad connection somewhere. Easiest thing to check first is to clean the battery terminals.

excactly what i found in my car .. i know , with less than 45k miles , major parts are not yet in neeed of replacement so ..all i had to do was trace back to ' what did i do/change' ..
one thing was the battery -- i notice i had a little crack in the terminal to negative ..
i stupidly sprayed spar polyeurathane coating on the terminals thinking i would stop oxidation (well, it does, but it also stops a good connection if there is much shift) --
i also somehow left a screw of , 1 of the 2 bolts that hold the battery in place somehow was missing .. so thats why i got the light clickidty clicking sound but no power to turn over .. and a funny buzz on the radio when ignition off ..

anyway, wirebrushed the terminals and conectors, got hthe bolt on and wouldnt u know .. started up ..

assesment of 'i cant find' my tools in trying to diagnose .. for somereason the OBD2 was getting hot and not making connection ..
havent found my battery digital load tester in a long time ... (*did i loan it to someone?)
-- thought i had a terminal post wire brush connocter , if i do ,its MIA.
-- found battery hydrometer (water tester) .. it has a leak and either needs sealing or replacement ..

did u know a battery with caps to check water will last many more years than a sealed battery ?