I was having an issue with starting last time. I would go to crank then bam, no power. Well today I decided to reconnect the battery and do some more testing. Surprise! ...power is back on. I test power at the battery - 12.3V. I test power at the relocation terminals - 12.1V. So... I go to start it once again just in case it was a fluke. Same thing happened. Turn the key to start the car and on first crank, bam. No power. I pull the key out, still no power. I try some wiggling of the key to maybe release whatever is causing the power outage, nothing. I check the battery again - 12.2V. I check the ring connector right off the battery posts - 0.01V. Don't even need to check the relocated terminals in the engine bay.

Someone mentioned a short in the starter last time. That seems likely now. But what caused the return of power? I could easily spend about $300 and rule out both the starter and ignition switch and lock column. But that is not my favorite choice. Any further ideas? This place is my only source of knowledge here. If I can't find an answer then the car will never come alive.

Previous problems I mentioned a while ago all seem tied together now:

 

there might be a lot of resistance in some of those wires, too.

disconnect the battery and check the resistance of each wire.

 

Are your battery wires corroded? Are your terminals both on the battery an wires clean?
This tends to happen when you don't have a good ground return to the battery.

 

Ground wires are all brand new and I even precleaned bolt holes before securing the ground wire. All terminals are brand new.

I don't think the wires have any problem themselves. I reused stock wires from the terminals in the engine bay. Even still, the car ran fine without an electrical problem after the relocation.

 

disconnect the starter. Then turn your key on to crank... if you still have problems; it is not the starter

 

I tried to jump the car today just for the hell of it ...and now it seems like with the abundance of extra voltage ...i noticed that the starter is sluggish when trying to crank ...probably to the point that if it were just my battery, it wouldn't even move like it has been doing. Of course the car still had no power when I removed the jumper cables from the other car. So I disconnected the starter and still no power.

Right now it looks like I am having an abundance of problems ...or just one that makes many other parts seem to be the problem. What a pain in the ***. I don't think anyone has even been plagued by this many electrical problems. I have one every few weeks of actualy driving.

 

I'm not even close to being an electrical wizard, but try this. Take the terminals off the battery and connect jumper cables directly to another battery,and your battery cables. Test the voltage before connection, and then after connecting without starting, check again. Then turn the key to on, and check once more. After getting readings, try to start, and if it starts, check readings once more. Leave it running, hopefully, turn on all lights, radio , etc. Take one more reading. Now, if all is ok, so far, take jumper cable off negative side of battery , and check again. Post the readings on all test, and I will tell you the problem.

I know it sounds complex, but each test eliminates simples problems.

PEACE THE DOG

 

rule out positive lead problem take a booster cable hook to positive ..take the other side of the booster cable to the starter if it does same..its starter

 

note..be careful

 

I'm not quite following this procedure. It seems like you suggest removing my connection o tmy battery and then trying everything off of someone elses battery.

misterstyx69 - i was told to try that too. im just gonna take it off and have a some autozone type place test the starter there. its too simple not to and much safer for me.

 

yeah I have a feeling it's probably the starter on this one, but it could be a short in the column.

 

Sorry if I seemed complex, just trying to save you some money on easy testing. I was just trying to rule out certain things, like battery, starter , alternator, etc. As Icemark clearly understands electricity and voltage, I think he understands where I was going with this. Well, hope you got it solved, and please post with the results.

PEACE THE DOG

 

Had this same problem, was a weak connection of the wires to battery terminals.

 

theman4444 - it would be just my luck if it were both lol. $90 for reman starter. $150 for new column lock and ignition switch. we'll see. i'd rather get new parts that are readibly transferable to another car. i dont think the ignition switch or column lock is one of them.

mombodog - i understood what you were attempting to get me to do, but i just dont understand the wording. my exams are all building up this week so no progress will be made soon.

tessai - i think you mentioned that in my last topic. i checked all connections and grounds.

thanks so far guys!

 

I pulled the starter off today. I turned the key just to see what would happen. On accessory notch it's sitting at about 12v ...then I turned the key as if I were cranking it and everything was fine. Voltage only dropped .5v but the power remained the entire time. I tried it again same thing. So I take the starter to Autozone but it tests out all green. It passed all the tests. So maybe the wiring is not effecient enough? I am gonna hook it back up tomorrow and test it again to see if I am right about bad wiring now. Any other ideas guys?

 

I reinstalled the starter and guess what happened ...same exact problem returned. So, I am very confused now. I removed starter and problem went away. I tested the starter at Autozone and it passed the tests so it is still good. I reinstalled starter and problem is back. Remember I tried to jump the car a few days ago and the engine was turning over, but very slowly as if the starter was bad or if voltage was low. But, the car was getting jumped at the moment so it couldn't have been voltage and that is why I suspected the starter. Even without the jump, before I tried cranking the car it had 12v to work with but the loss of power problem always happened.

Anybody?

 

how many amps was the starter pulling? cause that starter tester can supply more amps than your battery can which could easily make the starter turn but if its drawing more than 150 amps or so (i dont know the exact spec) it is still probable bad

also have the battery load tested i have tested some batteries that where sitting at 12.5 volts or more then with a load drop to less than one.

 

A good battery is 12.6v

 

I had the battery tested already as well. It was the first thing I did. It was good on all tests but had a low charge because when it was being charged by Autozone it overflowed with battery acid so it had to be terminated before it was fully charged.

 

Batteries being charged should not "overflow with battery acid". Could be that your friendly AutoZone destroyed the battery by overcharging it.

 

Did they load test the battery?..borrow a buddy's battery ..that will eliminate the question of battery..now that you have tested the starter,and acid out of battery?...i would have smack the kid for doin that to my battery..probably hsot for sure now..if starter and battery are good..look to ignition wiring..most likely key switch???..any seconds for this?

 

The problem was there even before I had it charged then tested. Still ...if that isn't supposed to happen then it's valid enough to complain.

That is just the thing, even if it was the battery ...I already gave it a jump start. So it had the power from another battery and alternator to help it. When I did that ...the engine finally started to turn ...but very slowly.

 

buy a starter and install it..if it works problem solved..if not return the starter and say it was the wrong one..that way you know it's not starter FOR SURE..just find a place that will accept returns or get a cheap used (you can always sell it off,if it is not the problem)..no-one ever said things were easy,especially when you can't "see" the problem..(internet mechanic)..good luck..

 

Yeah, I suppose the way to do it is replace piece by piece till it works lol.

 

i hate when idiots that cant figure out thier problem do this. they will come in buy a battery install it doesnt solve the problem return it say its bad. then buy a starter install it doesnt fix problem return it as the wrong one. then buy some random switch or solenoid then return that a few days later and procide to tell me that i keep giving them the wrong part cause its not fixing the problem

diagnoise the problem first then fix it dont just start throwing parts at it and crossing your fingers