Car Won't Start!

[Magic]

Hey guys, I've trying doing a search and nothing useful came up.

My 34 was always mechanically fine, serviced every 4-5000km's. Then one day I get back from holiday after 10 days of not driving it the battery is dead, which is understandable. I charged it up back to full. Multimeter read around 12.8-13V.

-It was fine for about a week. then as of a few days ago, it wouldn't turn over. Radio, electronics etc work but the car just clicks. Tried changing with another battery with full 13V power from an S15 and it started, but very weakly and it struggled to turn on but it did.

-Switched it off, then on again, same problem, it tries to turn but it just clicks, turns the fan a little bit etc, but no dice.

-RAC roadside said I needed a bigger powered battery around 450, but I don't think this will solve the problem.

lead me to the next thing it could be, being injectors, I ran through some octane booster and injector cleaner into the fuel, no good. We havn't tried pulling out the injectors and physically cleaning them yet. And of course the starter motor could be gone.

Bit strange how everything is fine then magically it falls to shit one fine day.

So my problem could be, battery, injectors, alternator, and/or starter motor. A mechanic I was speaking with over the phone said it could be battery with dead cells, but 2 different batteries having dead cells is unlikely.

When it gets jump started it will turn over okay. So has anyone got any ideas for me? To clarify, what it does when I'm turning it on without jump starting is a slight humming, tries to turn over, then just ticks..

Cheers guys.

[Sammy34]

Hey guys, I've trying doing a search and nothing useful came up.

My 34 was always mechanically fine, serviced every 4-5000km's. Then one day I get back from holiday after 10 days of not driving it the battery is dead, which is understandable. I charged it up back to full. Multimeter read around 12.8-13V.

-It was fine for about a week. then as of a few days ago, it wouldn't turn over. Radio, electronics etc work but the car just clicks. Tried changing with another battery with full 13V power from an S15 and it started, but very weakly and it struggled to turn on but it did.

-Switched it off, then on again, same problem, it tries to turn but it just clicks, turns the fan a little bit etc, but no dice.

-RAC roadside said I needed a bigger powered battery around 450, but I don't think this will solve the problem.

lead me to the next thing it could be, being injectors, I ran through some octane booster and injector cleaner into the fuel, no good. We havn't tried pulling out the injectors and physically cleaning them yet. And of course the starter motor could be gone.

Bit strange how everything is fine then magically it falls to shit one fine day.

So my problem could be, battery, injectors, alternator, and/or starter motor. A mechanic I was speaking with over the phone said it could be battery with dead cells, but 2 different batteries having dead cells is unlikely.

When it gets jump started it will turn over okay. So has anyone got any ideas for me? To clarify, what it does when I'm turning it on without jump starting is a slight humming, tries to turn over, then just ticks..

Cheers guys.

sounds to me like its your alternator.

[Magic]

Cheers for the reply Sam. I thought that, but the battery is actually holding it's charge. It stays around 13V. We left it overnight and it was that same voltage. If it was the alternator wouldn't it have lost it's charge?

I think starter motor, but yea just wana get more feedback before I got waste anymore money on it.

[The Dan]

Your starter motor is drawing too much current.

Test the voltage live while someone is cranking. Shouldn't drop any further than 9V. Also make sure the power lead to the starter motor is not broken or loose. Make sure the earth cables are good also. Poor terminal contact or poor earth will cause the same issue.

When you jump start the car the current cycles through the booster vehicle or battery. Therefore you can afford a small current drop in the circuit and it will still go.

Your problem is Connection or starter motor. Nothing to do with alternator and absolutely nothing to do with injectors....not even sure how you came up with that idea.

[Magic]

Thanks dude, yeah I didn't think injectors made much sense but it's somethin the old man threw up.

I think you're right, I'll let you know how I go. Cheers again.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Magic

[Magic]

Well my mechanic friend and RAC was right, the battery was stuffed (both of them!). They must have had some dead cells in them (the other spare I tried was in a crash that flipped a few times which probably damaged it). And my Panasonic battery came with the car imported, so god knows how old it is, although it was still putting out 300 amps in a test done at Auto Pro today, and the guy didn't think there was any dead cells in it.

Just went out and bought a 300amp super charge battery and it started up like new first time.

So yeh, $100 fix, pretty happy.

Edited April 6, 2009 by Magic