No crank, what is wrong with my car!?
05-13-2013, 10:44 AM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: OH
Posts: 829
No crank, what is wrong with my car!?
Okay, before getting into this, I'm gonna sound a bit like an idiot but with good reason. Though, now I'm just growing beyond irritated, so here is what's happening.
I was having battery issues, battery is about a year old but it would lose its juice if the car sat a week or 2. So I'd charge it or jump it accordingly, wasn't a big deal. Now, I keep getting the single "click" and no cranking.
What I have done so far is put a starter, solenoid, and battery cables on. Cables I did to remove doubt and make sure my starting was strong. Why the starter? The car decided to do this issue in front of a friends parents house, and I put it on before I could do any testing to get it moved. It didn't help, which makes me look like an idiot but whatever. I also sprayed off the bell housing with brake cleaner, removed the battery and charged it. When I put the battery back in, it started! It continued to for a while and now has stopped again.
I have no idea what else to do besides replace the ground wire. I'm just assuming a bad ground at this point. Any other ideas? Please help me here!
I was having battery issues, battery is about a year old but it would lose its juice if the car sat a week or 2. So I'd charge it or jump it accordingly, wasn't a big deal. Now, I keep getting the single "click" and no cranking.
What I have done so far is put a starter, solenoid, and battery cables on. Cables I did to remove doubt and make sure my starting was strong. Why the starter? The car decided to do this issue in front of a friends parents house, and I put it on before I could do any testing to get it moved. It didn't help, which makes me look like an idiot but whatever. I also sprayed off the bell housing with brake cleaner, removed the battery and charged it. When I put the battery back in, it started! It continued to for a while and now has stopped again.
I have no idea what else to do besides replace the ground wire. I'm just assuming a bad ground at this point. Any other ideas? Please help me here!
05-13-2013, 12:14 PM
#2
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 5,061
Bad battery, you said you charged it and it started, but it could still be a bad battery. You have a parasitic drain somewhere sucking your battery down. After you have a good battery, throw a meter on the battery then start pulling fuses to narrow down your problem.
P.S. Your not an idiot, your smart enough to ask for help.
P.S. Your not an idiot, your smart enough to ask for help.
Last edited by 88 orangepeel notch; 05-13-2013 at 12:16 PM.
05-13-2013, 12:39 PM
#3
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: OH
Posts: 829
lol well thanks for the boost in moral. I have been highly suspecting my battery has issues, and even considered a drain, but it still has plenty of power to power other things (like priming the fuel pump) without issue. It also doesn't go completely dead for about 2 weeks, so I have been pushing the idea of a drain aside. What is really throwing me is when the battery is weak it will at least crank slow, this situation there is no crank at all. I may just get another battery to kill that suspicion, I have friends at Autozone (where I got the battery) who wouldn't have a problem changing it out for me.
The issue really wouldn't bother me too bad, just it is happening at the worse possible time, I hope it is just the battery.
The issue really wouldn't bother me too bad, just it is happening at the worse possible time, I hope it is just the battery.
05-13-2013, 12:58 PM
#4
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 5,061
Yeah, have them test the battery first before you start throwing money at it. Also do a search for "battery drain", there are alot better descriptions on how to track them down than I explained. I had the same problem with my car.
05-13-2013, 01:39 PM
#5
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: ohio
Posts: 3,628
sounds like battery is draining from something , a short or something is on...
It likely could also be the battery itself. Some times the battery shorts out internally especially with over charging or excessive cycles from draining all the way out and being charged repeatedly. When this happens the battery will take a charge and gradually over time that charge drains faster and faster . Eventually it wont hold a charge long enough to start the car.. or stop charging all together. Make sure you don't have anything that is sucking the juice , you can do this by hooking up the battery on the positive terminal and using a digital ohm meter between the negative terminal and the negative cable and reading the ohms between them . You should have very little if any draw on the meter. If you have a high resistance reading or infinite ohms then there is something pulling juice.
cigg lighters are known to draw power if a piece of gum wrapper or a penny gets into the socket .
I am betting the battery checks out as bad though...
It likely could also be the battery itself. Some times the battery shorts out internally especially with over charging or excessive cycles from draining all the way out and being charged repeatedly. When this happens the battery will take a charge and gradually over time that charge drains faster and faster . Eventually it wont hold a charge long enough to start the car.. or stop charging all together. Make sure you don't have anything that is sucking the juice , you can do this by hooking up the battery on the positive terminal and using a digital ohm meter between the negative terminal and the negative cable and reading the ohms between them . You should have very little if any draw on the meter. If you have a high resistance reading or infinite ohms then there is something pulling juice.
cigg lighters are known to draw power if a piece of gum wrapper or a penny gets into the socket .
I am betting the battery checks out as bad though...
05-13-2013, 02:04 PM
#6
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: OH
Posts: 829
Meant to also mention I had the battery tested by one of those cheap handheld testers, said it was good but low charge. I do have an alarm on the car which I suspect is the reason why it goes dead after 2 weeks, but from most experiences parasitic loads seem to drain much quicker than that. Anyway, thanks for the tips guys, I'm gonna really consider changing the battery.
Oh, and 1 thing I just thought of, there have been times where I went to start, it'd click, sit for a sec, then start up. That was one reason why I was really thinking starter.
Oh, and 1 thing I just thought of, there have been times where I went to start, it'd click, sit for a sec, then start up. That was one reason why I was really thinking starter.
