alright so today I was driving around for about 3 hours in the morning than i stopped for about 20 to help me friend and when i came back the car wouldnt start, didnt even make a click. So my friend jumped it, it worked but took a bit. then i drove home and sat around for awhile. went back to check my car 1 hour later and nothing wouldnt start. So i thought maybe my battery was dead. went to part source and they said it was low, but would still give a good charge. Now im wondering, what can I do. Its pretty cold out today about -3 degrees celius.
oh yah, about 5 days ago i put in some fuel system cleaner. not sure but that might be part of the prolem.
People have told me lots of things, I either need a new fuel pump, says some people, need a new starter, says another, and a few have said an alternator.
But the thing about that is, my car doesn’t even sound like its trying to turn over? Wouldn’t that still happen? my battery is full I charged it? shouldn’t it still turn on?
when you turn your car to ACC, can you hear stuff prime like your fuel pump? can you hear your injectors ticking? DO you have a multi meter? if you do then you can check the output of the battery yourself when you crank it.
dude when the car is running it will be at 14.someshit useally 14.7 volts so if u have a multi meter while the car is running put the multi meter to the battery on battery test if u have one like that if its lower then 14 most likey u need a alternator and with the car not running the battery should be at 12 volts but this is where a load tester comes in handy to tell u if the battery is junk its not ur fuel pump its not ur starter the battery can be charged but its the amps that matter
im pretty sure a shop near u has a avr tester which will tell u if its the battery or alternator … i know my shop has a avr tester which will put load on a battery while the car is not running to see is its strong enough and will tell me if the alternator is charging while car is running quite simple
Same thing happens to mine, but mine is a severe drain on the battery. It runs strong as hell, but if you leave it for longer than a couple of hours it dips to where it doesn’t even have enough charge to make the starter even do anything.
Attach a multimeter to your battery and sit and watch it for a while while its off and the ground and main connected. if it keeps dipping, you have a short, if not… well other people have mentioned things you should try here.
Yes but josh…his doesnt actually start, and 2 seconds ago it did.
So possibly when turning it back on he fryed the starter…happend to one of mine when i had the KA still.
And im still somehow certain yours is the starter…and until you try it, i wont say otherwise =] lol
Alright well I took my battery to part source and they said it gave a good charge, and I dont have a multimeter so i cant check if its dipping.
But my girlfriends step father owns a shop and I was talking to him about it, and he thinks its the starter as well. Im going to check all my connection going from the battery (alternator, fuses, ground cables, starter) see if those are the problem.
When I crank the key, nothing happens, I dont hear the fuel pump, but then again not sure what it sounds like. I just here a click. Hmmm.
Thanks again for all the help. My car would die right before the winter T_T
i’m thinking it may be your batteries cold crank amps. this happened to me a couple of years ago, it just happened to my friend, and it seems to be the case once fall comes around for some people.
you mentioned -3 deg c weather that day it didn’t work… so i’m not sure what you mean when they say ‘good charge’ but if they did a full battery test they can tell you how many cca’s you’re getting. if your cca level is low then just get a new battery, problem should be solved.
just thought i’d mention that since everyone’s talking about volts. but yeah if it’s good then try knocking the starter with some blunt object and see if that helps figure things out.
Well by a good charge I meant that they tested the battery and nothing seemed to be wrong with it. It gave the proper amount of cca’s, they just said that the battery was low, and they charged it for me. bought it home and it should have started, correct? but it wouldn’t even turn over. All i here is a click, not sure if thats just the ignition, or something to do with the starter.
dont go smashing ur starter. if its starting fine off a boost i doubt it ur starter. and u said u drove it home i dont htink a boost would allow u to drive home if ur altinator is totally gone. so first thing i would do is check the altinator belt and see if the altinator is charging properly. should be steady at around 14v it may just be giving enough juice to drive u around but doesnt allow ur batter to charge. if neither of those are the problem uve got a drain on ur battery.
Heh, My car doesnt jump anymore, I may have to push start it to get it too the shop, cause I cant seem to find out what the problem it is. Its my starter for sure. But I think my alternator is also about it go. This sucks
a battery can have a charge and have available cca, but the battery should be tested underload, with a volt meter get someone to sit in the car and crank while you check battery voltage, as you crank voltage should not dorp below 9 volts, if it does it its no good, and is insuffiecent for the starter, if it does have more than 9 volts than yeah it sounds like a starter
thanks