Sorry for the long post, I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction.
1996 240sx 5spd
This morning the car started up like usual and I drove to get coffee before I went to work. Got to coffee shop, turned off the car, got my coffee, and when I came back out to try and start my car it failed to start.
The engine wouldn’t crank and my lights would flicker and i could hear a rapid clicking. It took me 5 tries before it would crank and sounded like it would die right after, but I gave it some gas and it ran fine. It drove fine to work and is now parked, but I don’t know if it will start when I go home this evening. Ideas?
Though I did notice something weird this morning. It’s finally been getting cold enough that I actually needed to turn on the heat and I did this morning. My music was on, but shortly my dash would cut out and back on and then cut out. It continued to do so on my drive this morning so I just turned it off.
So after doing some online research , it’s come to my attention that the typical culprits are the battery, starter or alternator. But which one is it for me? I’ve got no tools with me, how would I be able to confirm a diagnosis?
If your car doesn’t start again, find something to tap the starter with. When my buddy’s 240 wouldn’t start one day all of a sudden, i just tapped the starter and it was good to go again.
If thats not it, check your alternator and then your battery.
I think your alternator is pooched, and youve been running off the battery for a while
The dash cutting in and out is a sign of low voltage.
Take the alternator out and go to Partsource or CTC and have them run it on their tester. May also want to do that to the battery
another quick way to tell if the alternator is pooched is - jumper the car to get it started, then while its running disconnect the battery. If the alternator is good the car will keep ruinning.
Thanks for all the quick replies. Hopefully it will atleast take me home tonight. Mmm… I’m not that mechanically savvy so I will do some research on how to do all of the suggested fixes. Thank you!
Update: Car started w/o a problem, but it makes this wheezing of air sound. Also the crank sounds much softer than it used to. Turned it off and tried it again a couple of times and it didn’t fail.
Hey
What i can suggest is use a Multi Meter.
if you have a wiring diagram, you could try and find to see if the grounds are okay.
no groud = circuit wont be completed = no current
at first from reading the problem, i thought,
it might be the Alternator
because it started at first which Eliminates the Starter motor.
which means the battery isn’t being recharged as it should be, as you’re driving.
if it was your battery, you’re alternator would have recharged your battery when you were driving = no flickering dash while driving.
my suggestion…try to find where your alternator is grounded and clean it.
if you use a multi meter, you can diagnose much faster than just guess work.
not the starter for sure. seems like a connection problem sinse u didnt need a boost to start up again. i would start off by checking for loose connections check your battery terminals and ground. also clean em up if they need to be cleaned.
