Every few months my car won’t start. It takes a boost and is okay for a while. I got a new stronger battery and that didn’t solve it. However, when it won’t start, the wipers whip back and forth. Also my bell telling me that the keys were left in rings, even when I have removed them. Have had two mechanics check it over and they can not find the cause. This is a 1996 Ford Contour. Any ideas what could cause this?
One must wonder what the mechanics checked. In any case I would try removing both ends of the battery cables (both of them) and cleaning both the cable and where it goes very well and reattaching making sure they are secure. I would also have the charging system checked. Other than that it is the long dirty job of tracking down whatever is draining the battery.
Do you have an after market security system?
Nothing is mosre frustrating than an electrical problem in a car. They can take forever to trace, and then only with pros with the right equipment. I had a Buick that had a similar problem, but I got smart and took it to a high school that had a vocational auto department. Even using the most advanced diagnostic equipment, it took them literally days to find the problem and correct it. OK, at a dealer it might have only taken a few hours, but those few hours would have cost me several hundred dollars, so I came out ahead.
More than one common problem.
Given you Ig. key indicates a faulty condition, I might check the Key-in sensor or switch. I might rebuild the key switch, if that is possible.
Does the bell and the battery discharge go hand in hand?.
or the bell can be misbehaving for weeks and not cause any problem, then the batt fails.
How many miles per trip/week do you do?
check for faunty underhood, trunk, glovebox, etc light sensors.
The fact that the wipers are moving when you try to start the car may be clue to the trouble. Unless they were ON when the car was shut down they shouldn’t turn on. There also seems to be a short in the key warning switch. The problem points to trouble in the steering column.