car wont start

NYSpeed Automotive
1

i put a new alternator in my 3000gt and now it wont start. all i get is a single click and nothing. i tried jumping it and still nothing. i push started it, drove it around a bit, then came back and tried to start it again… nothing, just a click. the alternator seems to work fine, i get just under 14v at idle which is great. i cleaned the connection on it as best i could and im not getting any different results. is my starter solonoid bad now? it started fine before the alternator died. even with the dead alternator i could still jump it and it would start and run until i took the cables off.

woody

2

u have a bad neg. ground

3

i cleaned the ground terminal, even added another ground wire. cleaned the positive terminal and connections, and im gettin nothing. when i turn the car on, but dont try turning it over, i can hear a faint rapid clicking from the enginebay somewhere…its pretty quiet and lasts about a second or two. not sure what it is.

4

In my experience so far, that clicking has always been the result of a dead battery.

The clicking volume itself, would be dictated by the strength of the battery.

What about instrument cluster lights, does anything come on?

Is your dome light bright, or dim?

EDIT: Along with that clicking, I have always seen the instrument cluster lights flash right along with the clicks, and when starting, the dome light would dim a lot, showing the stong drain of the starter on the battery.

If these symptoms fit, I’d charge or change the battery.

Driving should have charged it, but if you had a bad alternator, it may have killed your battery completely to the point it no longer holds a charge. This has happened to me before on more than one occasion.

EDIT #2

Does the clicking stop suddenly, or fade out?

If it fades, my guess is the battery.

5

hm, the gauge reads 12v, and everything seems alright, but ill try to jump it and see if it will start. i tried that this morning before i cleaned up all the connections and got the same result, but maybe it will work this time.

6

One thing to keep in mind, a totally dead battery might not even take a jump start.

This happened on my Cavalier, I bought a new battery from walmart for $30 just in case it wasn’t a dead battery… and it fired right up.

Good luck with the car, I hope you figure it out :tup:

EDIT: I think I’ve heard that a battery gauge isn’t always accurate or something…

If you have a spare battery, or a friend can swap batteries with you to test it, I’d do that to save the $ from buying one to try it out.

7

what does it read when the car is cranking? it could very well be 12V at 40 amps or whatever your car is using when the key is on the run position… but cranking a car takes a shitload more…

8

still sounds like a bad ground connection

9

i agree with z24 try a different battery

10

Any luck with the car, woody?

11

dead alternators cause serious drains on batterys.usually when u replace a alternator u end up replacing the battery. check and make sure the positive is on the battery all the way. clicks r usually caused by low battery power grounds faulty connections. or ur starter. if all of these fail have a buddy turn the key and tap the starter solinoid with a hammer

12

yeah i got the car to fire up last night in the AM hours. after i cleaned up the connections i decided to try jump starting it again and it worked. i turned my car off and just let it charge my battery for a good half hour. fired up fine this morning. its fine now but i think ill need a new battery before winter. thanks for the help.

13

Awesome, glad it worked out :tup:

14

good to hear its fixed woody…cant wait to see it on the street