liveforeverZ Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I'm having weird electrical problems. When the ignition is on accessory, everything in the car works - as soon as I try to start it, all the electrical in the car turns off. The battery is fully juiced. This problem started with the fuel pump. It wasn't turning on, so I went to test continuity at the pump - nothing at all - a big 0 volts. Now, every time I try to start it, there is a click/bang from the front of the car (starter side), and all the electricity goes dead. Any ideas, its killing me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Check for poor connections. Clean and tight. Check major ground points. Start at the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Also check your starter. When mine went bad, my radio and headlights would turn on in ACC but then everything would click off when I switched it to the Start position Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveforeverZ Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 The connections are clean and tight. The starter was replaced 8 years ago, along with the fuel pump - since then the car has been garaged, and only driven about 5 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 How old is the battery? If you loose everything during "crank" then #1 bad battery connections/ground...#2 Siezed starter/engine(excessive draw)...#3 posibble ignition switch....#4 bad battery????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveforeverZ Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hi, thanks to all so far. The battery is old but I brought it to autozone today for a check and full charge. It checked out good and took a full charge. Weird things are definitely happening. The volt gauge in the car reads 12 volts (red charging light on) when the car is in "acc", when you turn to run it goes to 8 volts but still, all electric work. When you crank it it goes to -4. After sitting 5 minutes, it will be back to 12 volts "red charging light on". I've run the voltage meter and it is always 12 volts. Would anything so far result in no electricity to the fuel pump? The power line to the pump has 0 volts on the meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 My Fusible links gave me so much grief, try replacing the links or doing the Scoche [proper fuse] conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzle Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Triple check all of your grounds, I have seen this problem a million times and it almost always is a poor ground connection. You will have a ground connecting through a small piece of actual metal or corrosion, and when you go to pull 100 amps through it, it will literally melt off... That is the popping sound you are hearing (it works the same way a fuse does when you think about it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveforeverZ Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 I'm gonna check the links, fuses, and recheck grounds today. Maybe I'm missing a couple of the ground spots - will try to find. With some luck, hopefully I'll find the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzle Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 especially the ground from the motor to the body. If it is old you might want to upgrade to at least a 8 ga wire. If you don't have any wire just go to any stereo shop ask them to make you one, just try to keep it as short as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveforeverZ Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 It appears it was the starter solenoid. I took off the starter to bench test it (which it passed), but found a big crack in the solenoid - when I inspected further, it was cracked all the way thru and the bolt for the power side was just barely touching the terminal. I held it tight while someone turned over the car and, gloriously, no more electrical short. However, with the good news, theres always bad - the fuel pump still has no power going to it. Took off the fuel pump to bench test it and found something off. When you take the top off and pull out those five very small cylinders, the motor works perfect in the pump...as soon as you put the five cylinders back in, the motor wont start. Any ideas? Also, I think I'm gonna start with the relay to see why theres no electricity back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatBlack Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 It appears it was the starter solenoid. I took off the starter to bench test it (which it passed), but found a big crack in the solenoid - when I inspected further, it was cracked all the way thru and the bolt for the power side was just barely touching the terminal. I held it tight while someone turned over the car and, gloriously, no more electrical short. However, with the good news, theres always bad - the fuel pump still has no power going to it. Took off the fuel pump to bench test it and found something off. When you take the top off and pull out those five very small cylinders, the motor works perfect in the pump...as soon as you put the five cylinders back in, the motor wont start. Any ideas? Also, I think I'm gonna start with the relay to see why theres no electricity back there. Glad you found out what it was When my fuel pump went out, one of the brushes was bad. If it landed on a specific part of the pump, it wouldn't start. I could rotate it by hand and it would start again though, and it would work until it stopped on that one point. Maybe try that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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