Rant: Chasing a dead battery for 2 days, turned out the alternator was fine

I spent almost 48 hours straight over a long weekend trying to figure out why my 2010 Civic kept dying every morning. Changed the battery, cleaned the terminals, even swapped the ground cable. Cost me around $140 in parts and a whole Saturday before I finally tested the voltage drop on the starter circuit. Turns out the ignition switch was worn down and draining power only when the key sat in the ACC position. A $25 switch and 20 minutes of work fixed it. Has anyone else burned a whole weekend on a car problem that ended up being the dumbest, cheapest part?

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tessa_hill867d ago

Why is it always the cheapest part that hides the longest? I once spent a whole Sunday pulling my dash apart looking for a short (had the multimeter out and everything, felt real proud of myself) and it was a $12 relay. You threw $140 and a Saturday at a $25 switch, which honestly sounds about right for how these things go. The worst part is that ignition switch probably looked totally fine from the outside, so you never would have guessed it in a million years. At least you know your battery and cables are solid now, so that is sort of a win.

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