So I'm currently stuck in Afghanistan and my wife says my car won't start. It's frustrating because there is no way to diagnose it from where I am and neither her or her parents know anything about cars. The back story is that everything was running perfectly and then she drove it from Washington to California about a month ago when all of the ice storms were happening. It was fine all the way until she was five minutes from home and stopped at Raley's. When she went to start the car it wouldn't even turn over. Her dad jumped it and she said it kept dying while she was driving it which confuses me... It's been sitting in the garage ever since. I'm thinking it might be a fuse or possibly battery/alternator? I'm really hoping it didn't jump timing... I hate to have the car just sit for a year while I'm gone, so I was wondering if there is anyone who lives near Folsom, CA who might be able to take a look at the car? I would be forever grateful!

Send me an offer and I can paypal you some cash for your time. Thanks in advance!

 

Altenator or bad fuel pump. Does the car just die out and coast or stutter then cut out. If it dies out or if the instrument pannel flickers then yeah battery and altenator.

If you start up the car and take off one side of the negative battery if you pull it and the car cuts off its the altenator. If the altenator doesnt function properly it will suck on the battery like a hoe ohyeah its goin down.

 

yup sounds like alternator, may wear the battery down too running on just stored juice with no re-charge, I'm in Iowa so no luck from here, lol I came home from Kabul and Bagram in June so I hear ya there, pm me if you ever have any other questions or issues. Good luck... DON IBA!!

 

I really appreciate the input guys! The car is being stored at my wife's parent's house and they are not so tech savvy which makes communication difficult haha I'll hopefully talk to them in the next week or so and try and do some diagnostics. I asked them if the car was running rough before it died/died and coasted/or sputtered and they said that it always runs rough Maybe I'll see if they can limp it to auto zone to get the alternator/battery tested, although last time I brought them my mini battery they didn't even want to touch it haha Again, I really appreciate the suggestions!

 

your situation sounds alot like mine...except i was not driving. it started off as a bad idle (dash was flickering and only idling at .5 rpms) very quickly the car just wouldnt start anymore. it turned to be my fuel pump. i would have never guessed since i only have 33k miles on my viii but an easy way to diagnose if its the fuel pump or one of the fuel pump relays is try unplugging and replugging the car battery. Listen for the fuel pump turning on from under the back driver side seat...its pretty easy to hear if everything is quiet. if you hear nothing you know your problem. hope you find out what it is soon, must be frustrating especially when your not there!

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...-no-start.html

 

idle control valve maybe?

 

missed the part where you said wouldnt even turn over...in that case yeah probably alternator/battery def. electrical

 

The idle was kind of rough before I left but I attributed it to the cold and running on E85. I was thinking the IAC was going out but it could have also been fuel pump... If anyone has some free time and lives near Folsom, CA I would definitely be willing to paypal some cash if you can help fix my issue. PM me your price! I really want to be able to drive my car when I get home this summer for mid tour leave haha

 

Being that it had to be jumped to start, I'm thinking that it might be the alternator. Maybe even a friend battery. Does it only start back up with a jump? or does it start now without it being jumped. The next thin i would think is a fuel issues, but I dont think it would be a correct diagnosis considering that it needs to be jumped to even start.

 

One of my buddies is coming back from college soon and is going to take a look at it. Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll update when I figure it out since it seems a lot of people are having similar issues lately