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280zx won't start!


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I went to start my car today after not driving it for 2 days. When I turned the key, all i got was a click comming from the starter. This has happened in the past, but i traced it back to battery terminals. It was arcing from the terminals to a bare part of the batter cable. A little eletrical tape fixed that. So i cleaned the terminals, made sure there was no bare cable, and it still wouldn't start.

 

Next i tried sanding the positive terminals at the starter, as well as a few shots of contact cleaner. Still didn't really help, although it did start just once after that. Since i was just trying to leave to a movie, i didn't have time to play with it too much. I didn't get a chance to a play with the starter ground, but my starter is grounded in 2 spots. One to the motor ( I think, theres no ground cables), and also directly to the negative battery cable (I did this last time it wouldn't start. Found that the bottom terminal on the cable was just dangling, so i connected it to the starter mounting bolts).

 

Also, me and a freind just decided to try and push start it. For whatever reason that wouldn't do it either. And we've push started it numerous times without a problem.

 

 

Can anyone help diagnose the problem? I would guess its the starter motor itself, since i assume the click is the solenoid working? I've got a 83 turbo parts car as well, but i'm kind of afraid to jack it up to get the starter out of.

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  • 5 months later...

Sounds like you ought to rerun and repair your battery cables. The ground should drop down to a bolt below the battery box and then to the starter. Have real battery cables not something that someone cut off an put one of those clamp on one size fitall type. They corrode down inside the insulation. zx electronics don't like low voltage. You may be able to turn the engine over but not enough voltage to make the ecu work. I know you found your problem but caution that a few loonies spent on making sure you have good battery cables will save some hairpulling and cussing in the future. Or it could be interference from the northern lights

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