My 91 has been sitting in my garage for 14 months. Two months ago I finally had the money and resources to get it on the road again. The first step was to get a new battery because the one in the car was completely dead, so I did. After I put the new battery in I tried starting it for the first time in over a year and it started right up!
Now it’s time to get it safetied, I do not have CAA or anything so my buddy comes over with dealer plates, puts them on the 91 and then drives it to his shop/work and then safeties it there (really good guy I know).
That was the first time in over a year that it had been driven, so I ask my buddy how it was, “other than some tranny slippage its totally fine” he told me.
So he then drives it back to my house and I give him a case of beer and that was that. That was ten days ago, and the car has not been started since. So one hour ago I tried starting it for the first time since it had been dropped off from my buddy. I try to start it and nothing, the light behind the clock goes out and nothing else happens when I turn the key, and this is with a brand new battery.
I give it a jump with my mom’s car and it turns over. I let it boost from my mom’s car for a bit and then remove the jumper cables, as soon as I do that the tack needle starts bouncing from 1100 to 2000 RPM. I turn the car off and tried to start it on its own, nothing happens just like before. So I boost it again and it starts up again. I let it boost and then remove the cables once more, the tack needle is more stable this time but it randomly dips down real low (300 RPM).
So here is a video of me giving it gas when the car is running off of its own batt and not being jumped:
As you can see the needle jumps all over the place and bottoms out really low, as if it were going to stall. The car runs perfectly when being jumped however.
I know there could be many things going on here, but if you guys have an idea please let me know!!
Thank you.
hm…
Could be lots of things like you said but i would start with the charging system since the battery died so quickly. Maybe a short somewhere is killing your battery? If the battery dies after only a couple of days and its new, than you have an issue with something draining it. Make sure no lights are on and all that and double check for shorts. Sounds like the engine is not firing properly cause of a bad battery. Its possible to have a bad regulator and all that or that the alternator is killing the engine trying to charge the dead battery.
I would do the following.
Get a brand new fully charged battery and drop it in. Start the car and drive it around to see if anything funny happens. If you have any issues right after the new battery is in, you can cross off the charging system. If the car runs fine, try to kill the battery as fast as possible (loud music, wiper blades, anything electrical). Then if funny things start happening, you know the charging system is an issue (one of them atleast). I’m fairly sure that you have a short somewhere so check around. Also check for any damaged fuses as sometimes they go un noticed and cause alot of problems.
Keep us posted on what you are checking cause what you’ve said is pretty vague info. Could really be alot of things.
sounds like the alternator, however like others said, it might be something stopping the alternator from doing it’s job and charging the battery/providing electricity for the car. check fuses, main grounds, clean battery terminals if they’re corroded at all, and then throw a multi meter like Devo said, and it should read at least ~13.7v when the car’s running. if not, get a new alt.
For the idling problem however… could also be a bunch of other things, i.e. MAF, O2 sensors, etc. Try to narrow down the charging issue first though.
the funny thing about my terminals is that when my old battery was in and working it had large amounts of battery corrosion (that white power looking stuff) building up around the terminals. and I have had this new battery in for only a week or two and already I see corrosion starting to build up… i dont know what that means
Usually means that the battery has gasses escaping and collecting on the terminals… sounds like you battery is being in use constantly and not getting the charge it needs. i would deffinetly say that you have a short somewhere, could even be the reason for the rough idle as if the short destroyed a sensor it would mess the shit outa the engine. Almost garunteed that the old gas is not an issue, unless you were syphoning it in and out a whole bunch a times and used it to wash parts… or people. I’ve started cars that have been in storage for years and the gas is fine so thats not an issue.
Would deffinetly bust out the multimeter and check the terminals. 14 is good and if its bellow its a sign of an issue. Check around the fuse box for corrosion and bad connections. Check the main ground aswell (should be maybe a foot away from the battery on the negative line).
And as for the comment on the main fuse, if the main fuse was blown (ie. you put the batery in BACKWARDS), the car wouldn’t start at all! But check around for other fuses to see if they are bad and check the posts to which they connect to.
Oh and, good luck! Electrical is a bitch and the charging system is byfar the worst. Could take forever to hunt down a short or faulty wire so be prepared to cry at 3 in the morning after a long day of work lol.
yea…check fuses. If you think its the alternator, check the field wire for power with the ign on. With the ign off…check the field for ground. If ground then you have a short someplace. Its just better to run a new wire form point a to point b than to find a short in a wire. Also check the voltage regualtor for possibe shorting and general fuck ups. Alternator brush life too. Theres all kinds of shit to look for. Do some research on how this shit works…then once you understand its easy to troubleshoot.
had the same problem my car was shorting out check alt wires too they might be fried …i parted miune out because i was getting rid of it …i have a newer alt in mine if you need
well I took a look today and I could not see anything rubbing wires or blown fuses.
and one thing is for sure is that the car will not start unless its being jumped, even if I let it charge up by being boosted for ten minutes, if I try to start it without those jumpers cables on its not going to start. so that tells me I must have a huge drain somewhere.
saw something strange today, i saw that corrosion was building up the the battery hold down bracket and bolts. why the hell would electricity be passing over that?
check that the tie down bracket hasn’t punctured the battery or that it isn’t grounding the positive post. Make sure that it isn’t contacting eith post in any way and that there are no wires frayed on it. It is odd that corrosion would build up there.
with the battery hooked up normally. take your jumper cables and attach one lead to negative terminal and other end of cable to the engine…if car starts you found your problem
you can check for key-off voltage/current draw with a multimeter. set meter to Amps. with the key off, disconnect negative battery terminal. place positive lead of meter on negative battery terminal and negative lead on the ground cable(placing the meter in series with the cars electical system) . a reading of less than 0.05A is acceptable. more than that can be draining your battery.
It deffinetly seems like you have a short, but a bad ground might also be the problem. Check for that really large gauge ground wire. Make sure its not frayed or nothing.