jeromio Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 So, 2 weeks ago I finally decided to try and start the motor. My battery had been sitting on a shelf for over a year. I hooked everything up and cranked it over. And over, and over. If you saw my other thread, the ignition switch was bad. ANyway, I must have cranked it 20 times, and then it finally started. So, the next day - nothing. Just a click. SO I hooked up the battery charger. Trickle charged it for a week. Click. No crank. Checked the connections, cleaned everything up. Still nothing. This weekend, I went and got a new battery. And yet, still nothing. Fuses, relays, etc. are all fine. Took the starter off and tried it by itself. Spins right up. Took it to the Autozone for testing. No problems. I don't get it. This is truly driving me crazy. It clicks a few times, then nothing at all until it gets charged (10amps) for an hour or so. Then back to clicking. I am cursed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Last time I ran into this it was a bad diode in the alternator. Something is discharging your battery; to verify this, take the ground cable off the battery to isolate it from the car's electrical system. Then charge the battery, hook up the cable, and your engine should crank again. Anything left on- like a glove box light- will eventually kill a battery also. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to locate the current leak... good hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewire23 Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 I've got an idea for a change. Tried checking the fusible links? Umm, if you've already checked that, look at the starter and there should be three wires. One power, one ground, and a third one that uses a different slide-on type connector. That one MUST be attached, otherwise the key just turns on the fuel pump. If that doesnt solve it, start probing the connectors and wires from the starter on back to the battery. Segment after the last place with electricity is faulty. This is all what I know from a 77 EFI Z, so correct me to adjust for carbed operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted February 9, 2003 Author Share Posted February 9, 2003 Yeah, part of what's driving me crazy here is that I have gutted all the wiring. I have all of 4 fuses connected (fuel pump, PCM and 2 mains). And I've done nothing to any wiring except for replacing that ignition switch since the last time I cranked it over. That alternator thing is interesting though. The alt is connected. Tomorrow I'm gonna disconnect everything except the starter. I'll probably end up replacing the 0 guage wires out of shear desperation. The other oddness is that the battery (which is brand new BTW), shows 100% charged according to the guage on the charger. Maybe my charger is hosed. But the motor shoulda cranked when I hooked up that brand new battery. It shouldn't have just clicked. Something is catastrophically screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Have you got very good grounds from battery to frame and frame to engine? I ran into that....relay would click but nothing from starter as engine wasn't grounded after one swap I did. We just used boost cables to create a quick ground/fire it up etc to confirm that was the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BadKarmaCreepin Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 not to jack this thread, but i ran into a problem SORTA like this friday night, and am still trying to figure it out. the car would start, but all the lights (gauges, radio, vent controls) were dim. i couldn't rev the car past 5k with out it sounding like it was stalling, and the radio would turn off and on at the same time. since there's only a limited number of things electrical on the car, i shut the radio off, the gauge lights off and slowly drove the thing home. this is the alternator right? i mean, when i jumped the car, everything was bright as can be, but after i disconnected it, things went back to being dim. not charging right? anyone else have some sort of insight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 Try wedging a screw driver across the solenoid terminals (careful, the car might start). Could be dirty contacts in the solenoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted February 9, 2003 Author Share Posted February 9, 2003 Unfortunately the starter is wedged up in there and I can't get at it at all with it mounted. Not only is it tight up there between frame rail, starter and manifold, but I have that K-member part that I added to the crossmember right under the starter. But, like I said, it spins when not mounted - but that doesn't necessarily mean anything with no load. The test bench at Autozone showed the starter motor pulling ~130 amps from rest, settling to about 90-100amps at full spin. The solenoid consistently pushed the pinion out. The block is grounded to the frame on the driver's side and there is a 2 or 4 guage wire, about 2 feet long, that runs from the negative terminal to the starter side of the engine block (I'm using the camaro battery wiring harness) and another 4-6 guage wire on that same pigtail that I attached to the firewall. Also, I have a grounding pigtail inside the car that provides ground for all the circuits I am using. It is attached to the chassis in 3 places. I will take that advice and try a jumper cable ground though. Part of the reason I decided to go get a new battery is that those side terminals are hard to clean. I wire brushed the male terminals and they look nice and shiny clean. I'm also using this fancy di-electric grease on everything ($10!). The motor is a beeotch to turn by hand (high compression LS1). I guess this problem would be a lot more scary if I hadn't been cranking it over (and over and over) that previous weekend. IOWs, I at least know that the starter is (was?) capable of turning the motor. I'm just now getting ready to go outside (freezing cold out there ). I'm gonna remove the plugs to make the motor easier to turn and I'm gonna disconnect everything and go thru the whole shebang very carefully. There's gotta be a major short circuit someplace. This is such a disappointing pain in the ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted February 10, 2003 Author Share Posted February 10, 2003 I removed that starter side engine block to battery neg ground, cleaned it, applied dielectric grease, tightened it. Then I removed all the other circuits and disconnected the alternator. Cranked right over. I added back the necessary engine circuits and it fired right up. That ground really wasn't all that dirty. I am afraid to reconnect the alt for fear that Olphart is right. I guess I will remove the alt and take it in to get tested. Anyway, I am back on track - thanks for all the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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