Yes another battery boost story (posted this on facebook as well)

My battery died, we had some real cold temps this past weekend. Not sure why it died considering its about a 3yr old battery but anyway...boosted it, and yes I did it properly from under the hood just like the owners manual states. Well the power steering fuse still blew ( it did in the past as well and I did follow the proper way to boost this car). So ill need another fuse..but Im also facing transmission problems now. Its really hard to shift from park-reverse-drive. It really jolts the car and makes a crunching/squeak sound (hard to describe). Drove it for about 20mins on highway to get charging system going..but the transmission problem still remains.

Any thoughts on this?

 

Replace the battery, the old one has been far enough south to act up, the alternator can't keep up with the electrical system and charge a low battery.
I went thru simalarities when my OEM battery croaked

Also check the ground wires at the transmission, just to the right of the oil filter cap and down a bit

 

I don't know jump starting can blow the PS fuse other than hooking the cable to the wrong post. The trans problem is probably another fuse.

 

Some people will mistakenly hook up the ground cables before hooking up the positive cables. This can create an arc or surge when you do connect the positive side up. That can blow a fuse.

Not saying that's what happened, but................

 

Good info guys. Me, I'd charge the battery, and have it tested before replacing it. I know when I wore our battery down while working on the car, it ran very weird initially until the battery was charged.

If it was way down for whatever reason, I suspect it will take quite a while for the alternator to charge it back up to the point where it will have enough voltage/amps to run properly.

 

would the battery or alternator have an effect on the tranny?

 

Yes, if the voltage/power is not enough to run the various sensors/computers.

Have you measured the voltage at the battery itself (not under the hood) - with the engine off (preferably disconnected at the NEG terminal to alleviate any parasitic drain)-the voltage you measure will give an indication of the charge status:

Roughly - If the battery produces 12.65 volts, or more, the battery is fully charged. If the battery produces 12.45 volts, the battery is at 75 percent charge. If the battery produces 12.24 volts, the battery is at 50 percent charge. If the battery produces 12.06 volts, the battery is at 25 percent charge. If the battery produces 11.89 volts, or less, the battery is considered discharged.

If you measure it with the engine running - you should get a reading of 14+ volts - which will indicate that the alternator is at least working.