seanrot

iTrader: (2)

buddy I'm stumped,

A couple days ago, I went to start the car to pick up my brother. There isnt a problem with the engine it will start when cranked. Well, the starter turned for about thee seconds like I usaully do if it doesnt start up I give it a sec and try again. When I went to try agian I got nothing, not even the buzzers lights anything. The lights and clock would just dim and go out. Popped the hood and the + battery cable was HOT. So I figure the starter is shot. probably a short inside. Figured would give it the honda trick and see if that would get me going again. For those that dont know th e honda trick is to slap the starter with a hammer while someone else turns the key. That didnt do anything. I took out the starter, and grounded it with a jumper cable and it seems to function correctly. but it back in and all I got was the Ticking that a starter without enough juice makes.
Last night I pulled the battery and charged it. put it in this morning and it started to crank again yippee. but I was surprised by the starter kicking in and didnt let it go till the engine started. I went to start it again and got the same effects as above. None of the other electric equipment seemed to operate, my fan that is hard wired via relay, lights, clock when the key went to the on posistion everything just went dim and blank or off. I let the car sit for five minutes and tried again. Batard started everytime I turned the key. as if nothing had happened over the last couple days??????????
Im guessing there is a good short in the starter. What ya think?? Anyone else have the same problem?

thanks in advance
Sean

Kentetsu

Hi Sean

I would guess that you have a grounded wire somewhere, not necessarily related to your starter.

The hot positive cable indicates that you have a lot of juice going somewhere very quickly. You might try pulling fuses, then replacing one at a time while trying to start it again. That might help narrow down the location of the short. Good luck man!

Rogue_Wulff

Also, check the ground cables for loose/corroded connections. It may sound odd, but those can also cause the positive cable to heat up like you describe.

Lotus00

If you have an aluminum battery cable, you might want to try and replace it. I had a similar problem a few years ago and it turned out that the aluminum wire had cracked under the casing. You couldnt tell from looking at it that it was broken, but sure enough when I replaced it the problem went away.