Odd battery/starting issue?

[djdrock]

Tonight, went to start the NSX (1991), which was just driven last night, and it would not start tonight. It did "click", but that was it. I had no interior lights, accessories, headlights anything. Totally dead. I plugged in my wall charger, jiggled the battery cable, and 5 minutes later, it was as good as new. Nothing was left on overnight, so I really don't think anything drained the battery perse, but I am not sure. If the battery was totally dead, the clock should have been wrong, but it was not. There is no evidence that it is necessarily a battery issue. The battery is one year old.

Any advice?

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

bad ignition switch would be my guess

 

[Jett]

I strongly suspect your negative battery cable needs repair or replacement. Check both ends.

 

[ftuhy]

A simple test on all these battery issues.

1. Open the door? Do the interior lights go on? Battery and cables are at least doing something.
2. Turn on the headlights? Are they bright? Battery is problably OK?
3. With the headlights on, try to crank the engine. If headlights go very dim, then go full bright when you release the ignition key, its probably a bad cable, including cable grounds, or corrosion at the battery posts.

The above is not fool-proof, but it takes seconds without having to use any test equipment.

If you then want to get more technical, put a voltmeter across the battery post (not across the terminals on the battery cables) and repeat step 3. If the battery voltage stays above 8 to 9 volts, the battery is good and cables are bad. If the battery voltage stays up at 11 to 13V and headlights stay bright but the engine doesn't crank, you've got problems in the ignition switch, etc etc.