Thread: Help battery dead but other issues are concerning

So last night I went to my car to grab something and when I went to lock it the horn gave a honk of one that was dying. Today I go to the car and the keyless entry doesnt work so I open the door with the key and the first thing I hear is a constant ticking sound. So I try to turn the car on and none of the electronics turn on and the car doesnt start but the ticking sound stops. If I turn it all back off the ticking starts again and accompanying the ticking is the gear selector on the dash flickering with the ticking. Application of the brake also stops the ticking and even when I shift to different gear the ticking continues and also flashes with the new gear selected. This is really freaking me out and I am preparing to torch this car. Can someone give me some pointers because I have had batteries die but there has never been a ticking sound along with it. I don't know if it matters but the previous day it rained and then snowed eight inches so yeah.

Sounds like a typical dead battery but he said he heard it come on when he got in the car and it stopped when he turned the key. Those symptoms sound like a bad ground like mentioned before. Check ur grounds. They do funky stuff like that. I also had an ignition module do funky things like that in my 96 grand am and then the key got stuck. Couldn't get it out. Had to push a button under the steering column to free it but all that was caused from a low battery. Weird stuff happens like that. Same thing with a dying alternator

Alright I had given up on the car for a few hours and when I came back the ticking had stopped so I hooked up my battery charger to it and wala it works fine again. If it gives me trouble again in the future I will check the grounds. Or I will just look at them and make sure they are all good within the next few days. My car does have an aftermarket alarm so maybe someone had tried to get in it and the alarm just kept going off until it died but again I will be keeping my eye on it. Thanks guys!

P.S. I got a amp hooked to everything with the stock headunit and as far as the remote turn on wire went I wired it straight into the 12 Volt power wire (the orange one) to get power. I was told it would work fine and would turn off with the car. But as far as the battery dying it shouldnt have happened that fast because I have had it hooked up for a few weeks now but Idk right now.

What is the amp hooked up to? I'm not sure what orange wire u are refering to but u should always hook it up to a wire that only supplies power when the key is on, not a constant 12V wire.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Your issues were all a dead battery. Reason the battery died is because I have confirmed, you hooked the amp turn on wire to a battery feed instead of an ignition feed.

Hook to ignition feed or the remote turn on from teh radio and you'll be all set.

Ok I will go ahead and disconnect it and then hook it up to the ignition feed later. Shouldnt be too hard considering I ripped the radio out last night in my frenzy.