SC2 97 Wont start!
HyperCube33 (Life2Death)
and finally it'll barely kick over. I'll check my oil, and is there any way
I can test the battery with a standard voltmeter?
And lucky me, I am broke and only have enough extra cash to replace my
brakes, but I guess if my car wont start I cant really go do that tomorrow.
--
===========
Life2Death
===========
JimR9
>
>
> Over the day it's been stumbling and wont start. The starter wont even
> budge and finally it'll barely kick over. I'll check my oil, and is there
> any way I can test the battery with a standard voltmeter?
>
> And lucky me, I am broke and only have enough extra cash to replace my
> brakes, but I guess if my car wont start I cant really go do that
> tomorrow.
>
If it won't start, then you don't need the brakes anyway, now do you :)
Have you ever replaced your starter? I have a 97 SL2, and I replaced it
quite a while back. I currently have 184000 miles, so I'd guess it went
around 150,000 or so, but the first 90,000 miles were highway driving, so I
wasn't exercising the starter often then.
Good luck with it.
Jim
HyperCube33 (Life2Death)
"JimR9" <flaf...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:47a1p4-...@kd1yv9.dyndns.org...
Well I got the brakes fixed and the oil changed. And against my best
instinct, I put a full tank of gas in it. With me that's a bad omen -
usually means that the damn thing will soon break. And I was right. At the
gas station I turn the key, listen to the solenoid click into position, and
then nothing. I freak out and grab onto the drive belt and give it a few
yanks moving it (and making my hands nice and black) and sure enough the
starter makes like half a turn. Get out and do the same. Finally it
struggles, sputters and the car starts. I notice that the car is now hot as
I was getting my brakes 'worn in' . Over two hours later the car wont start
after I shut it off in my parents driveway. Car is still warm (just under
the 1/4 mark on the temp gauge) and doesn't do more than engage the starter,
but the starter just wont turn. The car now runs great after I changed its
oil...
Also I tried to clean the starters contacts off before I left on my "test
the brakes" (and get gas) trip. The car started with ease multiple times
while it was cold. I also threw my cars battery on the charger to see if
that was the culprit. Within about a half hour it was done charging, and it
didn't give the battery more than like 2 amps (from what I figure.) Cleaned
the ground wires and coated them with an anti-corrosive agent. Cleaned the
positive wire to the fuse box. Re-seated the fuses. Figured I cant check the
starter's voltage if it doesn't turn at all (books both say "if starter has
9 or more volts but turns slow, its bad) well it doesn't turn at all.
Fubar! My uncle and dad are going to look into this today. Blah.
Oppie
You can try to check the tightness of the starter motor to engine bolts (the
ground return path) and the two large terminals on the back of the starter
solenoid. Remove the negative battery cable before using a wrench on the
studs. Failing that, sounds like a dead spot on the commutator of the
starter motor - or worn brushes. That being the case, it is time for a new
starter.
You can short the two heavy terminals on the solenoid with a screwdriver
which should turn the starter. most likely will not crank the engine since
only the holding portion of the starter solenoid coil is energized at that
point. The Starter solenoid internally has two coils: a hold winding from
the start terminal to ground and a pull-in winding from the start terminal
to the starter motor power. Here are a couple of links that describe it
better.
http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/aa080203c.htm
http://www.prestolite.com/pgs_training/training_4.php
"HyperCube33 (Life2Death)" <hypercube[11x3]@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O5Zvi.1$E5...@newsfe06.lga...
Oppie
battery voltage as you turn the key and check that the voltage does not drop
substantially. Some cars will not start below 10V. When you turn the key,
you should first hear the click of the starter solenoid engaging. The
solenoid does two things - moving the pinion to engage the engine flywheel -
and closing the contacts to send power to the starter motor. Also check the
battery contacts that they are clean. It's a good idea when measuring
voltage, not to do it at the battery terminal but instead at the fuse block.
I had an intermittent cranking problem that got worse with time. Turned out
to be a loose nut on the battery cable to the starter solenoid.
Unfortunately by the time I found the problem, the loose nut had caused
arcing and ate up the threads on the stud (which made it a pain to replace).
I probably could have just replaced the solenoid but instead went with a
whole rebuilt starter.
Never fails that you get a few bucks ahead and then something breaks...
"HyperCube33 (Life2Death)" <hypercube[11x3]@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:u%avi.134$q54...@newsfe04.lga...
HyperCube33 (Life2Death)
"Oppie" <bop...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:46c05487$0$16495$8826...@news.teranews.com...
> Battery should be at 12V for a normally charge with engine off. Monitor
> the battery voltage as you turn the key and check that the voltage does
> not drop substantially. Some cars will not start below 10V. When you turn
> the key, you should first hear the click of the starter solenoid engaging.
> The solenoid does two things - moving the pinion to engage the engine
> flywheel - and closing the contacts to send power to the starter motor.
> Also check the battery contacts that they are clean. It's a good idea when
> measuring voltage, not to do it at the battery terminal but instead at the
> fuse block.
>
> I had an intermittent cranking problem that got worse with time. Turned
> out to be a loose nut on the battery cable to the starter solenoid.
> Unfortunately by the time I found the problem, the loose nut had caused
> arcing and ate up the threads on the stud (which made it a pain to
> replace). I probably could have just replaced the solenoid but instead
> went with a whole rebuilt starter.
>
> Never fails that you get a few bucks ahead and then something breaks...
No joke there. Every time I get a nice bonus and have the last part paid off
(or almost paid off in most cases) and things are going great...car trouble!