Car won't start... again

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#1

Over the last 2 months, my car has refused to start about 4 or 5 times. Everyone of those times except twice, all it needed was a jumpstart. The other two times, it started after a couple minutes of waiting.

So this morning it didn’t start again, so I went and bought a new Motomaster Eliminator 700Amp battery and hooked it up. The car still wouldn’t start, so I got some friends to push it down the street and I bump started it… Car came to life, but died within a couple of seconds… We tried this again and I was able to keep it running for a moment, but only if I mashed the throttle in and out continously, and it eventually died anyway. The car won’t run at a steady RPM, and the started wont turn over.

I’m going to try to bum a charge off someone tonight, but this seems weird that even though the car started, the alternator wouldn’t keep it running. The car feels like it’s getting very limited fuel, or very limited spark… Both of which are completely likely if the battery is weak (electric ignition and injection and fuel pump), however the alternator should be providing juice enough for this…

Any tips before I call a tow truck in the morning, if the battery charge doesn’t do it?

My little brain thinks that maybe mashing the throttle keeps it running because somewhere I’m creating an air fuel ratio lean enough for a weak spark to creat ignition… that or the weak fuel pump is able to “prime” the system between mashes… Other than that, the car ran fine all day yesterday and last night when I parked it.

#2

I’d be suspicious of your alternator. The current supplied to the engine electronics is not instantaneous when the car is started.

Try jump starting a car with a completely dead battery. If you rip the jumper cables off the as soon as it fires up, it’ll probably die again. The battery still needs to have at least some charge for load balancing, especially when the engine is only idling.

#3

Was the car dying even when it was still leeching the other, running car?

#4

The car will NOT take a jump… No luck having the starter turn over so far.

#5

I think I just thought of something!!!.. Yesterday one of my amplifiers broke loose and shifted to one side of the car, disconnecting the positive lead… i screwed everythig back down, but maybe it happend again and over the night it shorted something out. I’ll go investigate.

#6

Was the new battery charged?

Check the battery ground. There are ground points all over the vehicle, but there should be a big one pretty close to the battery if you follow the negative cable.

#7

Will do both… brb

Battery came off the shelf… not sure if it had full charge.

#8

And just remember, you have electronic injection and ignition, so a bump-start might not do it for you if the battery is right dead.

#9

Okay, so the amp is stil intact and so are the leads, but that doesn’t even matter becuas ei had unplugged the lead that powers all of that stuff in the interest of saving battery draw anyway…

So, the leads are good. Alternator leads have been joggled, the battery ground goes right into the block, and also into the frame… both oare secured…

So, I’m still thinking the battery just needs a charge and/or my alternator is probably weak or not functioning. It seems cooincidental that the the starter wont turn over, AND the engine wont run. I can understand if the engine rana nd the starter didn’t work… or the starter worked but the engine woudlnt run, but having both doing nothing definetely makes me think the battery is just weak.

Waiting on a charger…

#10

ammeter is at ~10volts when i turn on the ignition… though that may be normal.

#11

Remember, even though we say “12 volt”, a car battery is actually 12.6V with a full charge and the car not running.

10V is definitely abnormal. Charge that shit hard.

It should go up to 13.5V or over when the car is running, if we measure voltage at the battery.

#12

Battery is charging… And becuase I’ve been trained to do so, I watch my ammeter like a hawk. It sits around 13.5Volts at any given time when the engine is running.

This is a PrincessAuto special, (automatic charger) so I’m guessing it turns off when it thinks it’s done. Using fast charge instead of slow charge… 2 hours or so?

#13

Yeah, 2 hours oughta do it. Not a full charge, but enough.

Also dude, I’m gonna need you to stop calling your voltmeter an ammeter.

#14

My Bad :unamused:

This gets very weird… Ready?

Battery is now charged and headlights are bright.

I turn the key, the engine doesn’t turn over.

I jam a screw driver between the starter leads, and the engine turns over…

I turn the ignition on, and jam the screw driver into the starter and the engine turns over, and the plugs spark, but the injectors do not spray ANY fuel

The fuel pump makes its everyday happy sounds, but no fuel is leaving the injectors.

Thinking this is the clutch saftey switch, Andrew jams a paperclip into the switch, overriding it, and still no fuel, but we can force the starter to turn, and the coil/plugs are sparking.

So the reason the engine wont run is becuase it isn’t getting any fuel.

Now, why in the hell doesn’t the starter kick in on it’s own if the screwdriver trick works?

None of the fusable links to the starter appear to be burnt or soft. Regardless, that shouldn’t effect the fuel injection.

What should I do? I need this fixed tomorrow.

#15

I’m leaning towards a starter or main relay being cooked.

#16

Depress the clutch, and turn the key to “Start”. If it doesn’t start, simultaneously, have a helper monkey outside the vehicle with a long hard rod (hehe, I said…) and a hammer or other suitable tool apply several hard raps to the starter housing.

#17

sticky burhes, beat that sh it hard!!

you gm guys are all the same… have sex with this zoo animal, have sex with athat sooz animal…

now if you owned a nice eec-iv ford, you’d see that any zoo animal could becmoe your bride :smile:

#18

Tried that… The starter works fine, just somewhere between the key and the starter, it looses the current to turn over.

The engine will turn over if we force the starter to go, but even with the ignition on, the injectors wont fire.

#19

Can you get the injectors to come on at any stage?

Honestly, if you can make that starter engage, you should be able to put the ignition to “Run” and that thing should fire up.

I’d question why your ECM and associated fuel injectors aren’t getting power. Relay, or fuse?

#20

Id start checking fuses. Maybe pull one out at a time put them back in that will create a new better connection in the fuse box… if yuor relays pull out pul them out and re seat them too…