[Wolfman1]

Any known low battery issues and fixes? I was investigating an odd sound that may have been related to the alternator and after getting my son to help (his 22 yr old ears are better than my 75 yr old ears) we stopped and restarted the engine several times. Then the starter wouldn't turn over and I got the low battery warning, tried jump starting, starter wouldn't turn over and got some smoke from the passenger side. I let everything cool down and turned on the ignition switch and got a message "low battery, start car". Of course that didn't work, but no at least no smoke (disconnected the jumper cables). Can I get some trouble shooting advice and will the battery fit through the little window in the trunk liner?

[Gunkk]

Gonna take a wild guess and say the starter failed and let out its magic smoke. But to take a thorough approach I'd do the following in no particular order:

Recharge the battery with a battery tender. If you get a charging fault, disconnect the battery terminals and charge the battery off the car. If that fails (still throws an error), replace the battery. It won't fit through the access port. You'll have to move the trunk liner out of the way. Easiest way is to pop the retaining xmas tree clips out with a trim tool, peel away the gasket from the top of the liner most of the way back to the latch, and bend down the liner. It's fabric coated plastic so it can take it. The cover over the positive terminal block slides horizontally toward the center line of the car and has a couple fragile retaining clips (easy to break off, but NBD if they do).

If the starter is no longer rotating at all on attempted start or if voltage complaints still exist (presumed internal short)-, remove and bench test the starter. If it fails, replace it.

Inspect the wiring between battery and starter, and connections to the starter and grounds around the starter. This can obviously be done first to avoid possible un-necessary battery or starter wrangling.

[bishopts]

Originally Posted by Wolfman1

Any known low battery issues and fixes? I was investigating an odd sound that may have been related to the alternator and after getting my son to help (his 22 yr old ears are better than my 75 yr old ears) we stopped and restarted the engine several times. Then the starter wouldn't turn over and I got the low battery warning, tried jump starting, starter wouldn't turn over and got some smoke from the passenger side. I let everything cool down and turned on the ignition switch and got a message "low battery, start car". Of course that didn't work, but no at least no smoke (disconnected the jumper cables). Can I get some trouble shooting advice and will the battery fit through the little window in the trunk liner?

Start with a new battery

[Wolfman1]

Tried another restart today; started but made a metallic noise this time and smoked again and got a cam position sensor warning this time around. Battery is on tender now; suspect I need a new one anyway. Will follow your suggestions about the starter. Will also add additional ground. Thanks for the response.

[bishopts]

Originally Posted by Wolfman1

Tried another restart today; started but made a metallic noise this time and smoked again and got a cam position sensor warning this time around. Battery is on tender now; suspect I need a new one anyway. Will follow your suggestions about the starter. Will also add additional ground. Thanks for the response.

Starter or alternator wont set a cam sensor code. Low battery voltage maybe. But depends on the code.
Sensor circuit fault, probably
Sensor performance, unlikely
Cam crank correlation no

What was the story prior to it being parked?
Who was driving it?
How was it driven?
When was the last time the oil was checked?
How long does it sit normally?

If you have the ability to. Take the belt off the supercharger and the alternator and see if it wants to start easier? One of them could be locking up.

almost sounds like you melted the starter because it was trying to turn an engine that is locked up or locking up

[Wolfman1]

New battery, new starter; pita to replace starter. Got it running; now if I floor it, the lights flash and the engine cuts out, then runs but can't floor it without the lights flashing and the engine hesitating. Had a P10E1 code but cleared it when we cleaned the battery terminals; lights flash, engine still hesitates under hard acceleration and resummes running ok when I back off the throttle. No codes on my cheap OBD. I'll stop by Autozone tomorrow and see if they can check the alternator. Any more advice?

[Gunkk]

Originally Posted by Wolfman1

now if I floor it, the lights flash and the engine cuts out, then runs but can't floor it without the lights flashing and the engine hesitating.

Which "lights" are flashing, specifically?