Guys-

My car is not starting, and the battery is new. I have this pic here because when I turned the ignition key to the START, a certain part of the engine clicks. The part I am talking about is located to the right of the Mazda engravement. I have an arrow pointing to it. Can anyone tell me whats going on?


Mike
-------
'86 NA

 

that's your bac valve have you tried testing your neg. cable possible that the cable is not grounding correctly, this happend to both of my fc's if you keep turning it back and forth it will eventually catch and start. it's your battery terminals that are bad if this is the problem.

james

 

well number one: your motor is way to dirty and your car must be trying to get back at you for such neglect.

number 2: what's the voltage when the key is on? and if you turn you headlights on?

 

LOL I was thinking the same thing. Try cleaning off the connections to your battery, both the posts and the connectors. If the intake manifold and all is that dirty im sure the battery cant look to good. Bad connections are a bitch!

 

First of all the engine is not neglected. In fact, it is way off from being neglected. Just because I don't bust out a tooth brush doesn't mean its neglected.

Second: The battery terminals are THE cleanest thing in the car. I know this becuase I sanded them two weeks ago when that battery was installed.

Third: I know the battery is dead, and I want to know why it hasn't charged. That is the question. And no, I did not leave the headlights on. It reads 6-8 or lower volts when I go to put it in the start position, and it is so dead that I can not even turn the headlights on. It does not have enough juice to put them up.

Fourth: The alternator belt is tight. I checked that too. So this is why it leads me to believe that it may be the alternator itself. But then, I ask myself another question: Why is that the ONLY part of anythign that des something. It sits there and clicks, and it sounds as if it i coming from that part that I pointed too.

Fifth: Another mysterious phenomenon is when I hold the key in the start position, the RPM gauge bounces from about 0-600 or so, even though the ONLY thing happening is that clicking I mentioned before.

Finally: That dirt is far exaggerated by the camera. And you also have to remeber that the car sat for about a year, being run once or twice a month before it became a daily driver. (I even found acorn shells built up on top of my air filter).


Mike
-------
'86 NA
no mods

 

Its not that unusual for the bac to make a clicking sound. Almost a normal thing. The bac works at something like 125hz. Its not a on/off solenoid. I suspect its because the tps is off a touch. Just a guess. No idea at all about the tach bouncing. I'd get the battery fully charged, and before installing it again, I'd check the connections on the starter. Also the negative cable that is attached to the long starter bolt. Make sure they are secure. Either the battery is toast or you do indeed have a bad connection at the battery posts or at the starter. Anyway, bacs do a bit of clicking, but thats the least of your problems and its not causing your problems. If you still think that is a problem, just disconnect the bac's plug until you resolve your starting problems.

 

Exactly - the battery IS toast. But my main question is WHY? How would a two week old battery be shot? In my opinion it would be because it is not charging. This is what I want to know.. WHY ISNT IT CHARGING? Which brings me back to the messed up alternator hopothesis. The starter is fine, and I KNOW the terminals/rings are fine also. I checked that.

BTW- why would the TPS suddenly get all messed up out of no where?

Mike
--------
'86 NA
no mods

 

dude youre motor really is filthy.

Try cleaning the connectors and spraying them with some grease

 

is your altenator belt loose or anything? Or unplugged in any way?

 

NO - the belt is not loose.

AND NO - the damn TERMINAL AND CONNECTION are clean!!!!!!!


Mike
------------
'86 NA
no mods

 

I'm not saying the tps is messed up. Its a natural thing for the bac to make a clicking sound. Its an insignificant thing. If it worries you, disconnect it. It is not the reason the battery is going down. I'm having more than a little trouble with this post. The car does not start????? So why worry about a loose, tight, indifferent altenator belt. Has nadda to do with the car starting. But then I must be wrong. The car does start and the battery dies on you after a period of time?????? Just curious. I'm just slow I reckon. So will you let me know if the car does/does not start atall.

 

The car hessitated to start once, but started, and the time after that it was not. I had REALLY low voltage (8 v) reading. I talk about the alternator because if it was not charging the battery correctly/at all, then the battery would be dead after some starts. Hope that explain it.

 

does that help at all explain why i was talking about the alternator?


Mike
-----------
'86 NA
no mods

 

Hey, didnt mean anything with the dirty car comment Your tach jumping like it is and the fact that your 2 week old battery is dead already would leave me to believe that your alternator is in fact screwed. Every time I have had an alternator go bad, the first sign was always a bouncing tachometer.

 

Okay cool burner. I wasnt really actually pissed about the dirt comment. I was being sarcastic (guess its hard to pick that up on the internet ) But anyway, if the alternator was replaced when the engien was rebuilt ( I will assume it was) then it has 54 K on it. Is that normal to last that long? It may be shorter life becuase I do ALOT of town driving. Anyway, looking at the alternator (if that is the problem) I could probably replace it myself. I could run my *** down to Foreign Auto Parts. How much do you think it would cost? Also, I have replaced the muffler, so I am guessing this isn't much more difficult (those damn black rings holdng the muffler up are a BITCH to get off). Think I can handle it?


Mike
-------------
'86 NA
no mods

 

SORRY....Burner=Boosted. And by the way I do not think that is to filthy for a car with 255 K on it!

 

If you can get it started again. you need to put a voltmeter on the output of the altenator or on the positive lead of the battery and make sure that its putting out something on the order of 13 to 14 volts. You can do the same thing with the cars volt gauge I reckon. If it only shows 12v or less I would think its not working, and so would you. Car should start whether or not the altenator is shot or not if the battery is up. I know there are exceptions to that I'm sure, like a big **** dead short in the altenator or such. In other words I agree with you that the altenator does not seem to be working because you should have seen 13/14 volts on the volt meter and for it to only show 8 volts, the belt would have to be really, really, really, really, really, really loose. Tell you what, put a meter on the large wire at the altenator and see if you have 12v. Car does not have to be running to do this, nor the key to on. If you don't see 12v(or whatever the battery voltage happens to be right now) then maybe that wire has a break in it. Sounds like the altenator has bought the farm. Who knows. CAn't do much until the car gets started again and the altenator is up and turning.

 

Yup...Bouncing tach=funky alternator...cant believe nowone knows more about this charging system. it was one of the main things in high school autoshop...

 

NA, you can pick up an alternator almost anywhere for 60 bucks - core charge. As for swapping it out, probably on of the easiest things to do to a car. 2 bolts a plug and a screw

 

Well to answer one of your questions..no the alternator belt is not loose. That is the first thing I checked. It is tight. Now all I got to do is fnd the damn voltmeter.

Anyone know how much it would cost to get a new alternator a Foreign Auto Parts?

Mike
------------
'86 NA
no mods

 

Just get a Voltmeter, and check the voltage before you start looking at replacing the alternator. Jumpstart the car, and check for 13.5 to 14 volts on the system. 12 or less, the alternator isn't charging, or you have a short somewhere along that wire.

any fuses blown?

Is the only reason the car won't start because the battery won't turn it over?

Alternators might be a little pricey, I bought a rebuilt from the autoparts store, ran me 150 or so + core.

PaulC

 

mine was 70 bucks - the core charge

 

@#%*@*#*@%*@#((#(%

:\

PaulC

 

brand new

 

Just a thought, you might want to take your battery to a place to have it checked. My brother got a new battery for his car and it turned out to be faulty. I think he took it to sears and they checked it for free.