Car won't even turn over after a small front end collision

[bob k. mando]

all critical information for the car should be located on some form of ROM ( not possible to erase ) chip. most use EEPROMs ( Electrically Eraseable and Programmable Read Only Memory ) which can be reprogrammed ( and fvcked up in the reprogramming ) but power loss will have no effect on them.

think of it like your computer BIOS ... you can unplug your computer from the wall and unpowered for months. plug it back in, hit the start button and there you are.

you'll drop things like radio presets, current time, maybe power seat presets. but those don't make any difference in how the car runs.



battery was dead so that tells me something is sucking the life out of the battery.


battery may have been damaged in the wreck.

something may be partially shorted elsewhere in the car.

keep in mind that your car stereo / clock / alarm system / etc will all be pulling current constantly while the car is turned off, so a modern car really can't be left sitting for ~ month without being run or it will kill the battery simply through maintenance current drains.

if you are going to let a new car sit for an extended period, you need to disconnect the battery or keep it on a battery minding charger.

[TexasJohn55]

Good grief, doesn't your mechanic have a battery charger? The trouble codes may be lost but will reset and show any active faults when powered back up.

[jeremiah.graham.98]

Yes but his reader wouldn't read on a 2014 model

[jeremiah.graham.98]

Bob your awesome

[jeremiah.graham.98]

Ok well $400 later car runs and drives took it to a dealership they hooked it up on the computer and found out there was 6 terminals broken in the high speed communication line

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP

[bob k. mando]

Ok well $400 later


so ... you bought a brand new 2014 car for salvage price ( $10k ? ) + $400 and some elbow grease. sounds like a heck of a deal.

cars.com says a 2014 stickered between $23.7k and $30k. so you can probably flip it for +$20 k, according to kbb.

sounds like you might want to try this again.



took it to a dealership they hooked it up on the computer and found out there was 6 terminals broken in the high speed communication line


well, we DID say to "unplug and replug your connectors". this is a form of that fault. only problem being, it's not going to get fixed by plugging it back in.