I went out to start my 03 Neon this morning and the battery appeared to be completely dead. There was no dome light or anything else. Using our other car, my girlfriend and I jump started it. It started right up but as soon as we disconnected the cables it dies. We tried several times with the same conclusion. Any ideas of what could be going on?

 

I've seen batteries so dead the car won't stay running, it could also be a failing charging system as well.


Try charging/replacing your battery first.

 

check the main fuse out of the alt. at the fuse box .see if the alt is producing power. but a new battery is in your future

 

It's been a long while, but IIRC, if you get the car started and unhook the battery (or jumper cables): if it dies, bad alt. If it keeps running, dead or bad battery. If the alternator is bad, it won't charge the battery. Of course, the "safest" way to check is to simply have the battery load tested. Any parts store and most shops will do this for free.

 

Thanks everybody. As it turns out, the electronic switch down by the brake pedal that tells the brake lights when to turn on had came unmounted causing the brake lights to stay on. I happened to walk behind the car while attempting one more jumpstart and noticed that they were on. I put it back in place, charged the battery, and I am good to go.

 

I was going to say you could have a big drain too, but figured that would be unlikely, lol. Nice job on finding the problem!