1999 Toyota Corolla Fried Battery?

Hi guys, awesome forum.

I live in Canada and plug my car in every night so it doesn't freeze up. It usually starts in the morning without a problem. This morning I used my automatic car starter to turn it on and it worked no problem. It ran for the normal 15 minutes then turned off. I went out to fire it up and take off but nothing happened when I turned the key. It didn't even turn over or anything. I can't turn on the radio/maplight/etc.

Looks like the battery is dead but I don't understand why it would work fine for 15 minutes then die. Would this be an alternator problem? The battery should be ok, it's only 1 year old..

Thanks!

Greetings Kalist welcome to the Forum !

You really need to get a Volt Meter, where you can check things like that, and know absolutely if your Battery has Voltage or not.

This system you're using does what ?
Heat the Oil/Motor ?
Actually crank the Engine and let it run for 15 minutes, then shut it off ?

Hope you got some good ventilation given if that's right !

Have a good Day !
S.W.

Thanks for the reply.

The automatic car starter actually starts the engine and lets the car run (the engine turns off automatically after 15 minutes). I usually just use this in the winter for two purposes:
1) let the engine warm up before I drive off in the car (some nights it can get as cold as -40 degrees celsius)
2) let the interior of the car warm up a bit so I'm not freezing my butt off

Oh and for ventilation, I park my car outside. Haven't had a garage for a long time. Since I park it outside I plug it in every night (to prevent the battery from freezing up).

I will pick up a VoltMeter tonight. If the battery has no charge at all that means either the battery is fried or the alternator is broken?

Kalist,

Minus (-) I don't know what that is !!

Gees, I complain when it gets below +65°F !!

Understood on the Warm Up'er, but, you don't have to get a real fancy Meter, to do basic checks.

Don't know if you have a Radio Shack type store up there, but a simple Analog Voltmeter that has Volts and Ohms Scale on it will do fine. (under $10us)

Now, at those temperatures, funny things happen to metal, it's possible all you need to do is thoroughly clean your Battery Terminals, and make sure they're tight.

The Meter will let you know if the Power is there, and then you can proceed to make sure it's making the trip to the Ign and Starter by tracing the Voltage with your Meter.
(Set the Meter to the 20 DC (volt) scale, and push the Points of the handles, DIRECTLY on the Battery Posts, not the Clamps that are on them. Red is Positive, Black is Negative. Should read about 12-14 Volts when it's not running)

Beyond this test, you can check how much Voltage you have in your house, find out if a Light Bulb is good or not, lots of things. Read the little Book, it will suggest stuff for you to do with it.

Let us know how that goes !

Have a good Day !
S.W.