Another Problem... Starting Car

[sperold]

Post a short video of the clutch switch, shot from near the floor mat, looking at the clutch arm.
Charge your battery with a plug-in charger and wait for it to be fully charged.
With the video, people will be able to advise you what wires to manipulate to confirm or rule-out the clutch starter switch.

 

[luigisho]

That battery does not have enough to start the car. When you get under 12 things get funky. Closer to 11&10 is bad. Either it isn't charging or it won't hold a charge. Fixing a starting issue like this is incredibly difficult if the power source is flaky. Get a good power source hooked up and chase everything from there. You'll be running in circles if you jump from one thing to the next without knowing that the thing you thought was good isn't. Don't always assume that new is good. Stuff can come bad out of the box. With batteries, a bad alt not charging it properly or an electric issue draining it, can **** a new battery in short order.

 

[Danielle]

It's the starter. Same failure as two/three replacements I encountered.

But why did Oreillys say it was good?

 

[Danielle]

That battery does not have enough to start the car. When you get under 12 things get funky. Closer to 11&10 is bad. Either it isn't charging or it won't hold a charge. Fixing a starting issue like this is incredibly difficult if the power source is flaky. Get a good power source hooked up and chase everything from there. You'll be running in circles if you jump from one thing to the next without knowing that the thing you thought was good isn't. Don't always assume that new is good. Stuff can come bad out of the box. With batteries, a bad alt not charging it properly or an electric issue draining it, can **** a new battery in short order.

I just have one question. Can the alternator still charge my battery even though my car is starting? I thought the alternator couldnt charge anything until it is running.

 

[luigisho]

You are correct. It needs to be spinning to generate electricity. It cannot do anything without the car running. A good battery can start a car but it will drain quickly trying to start it without electricity coming in to maintain the charge. Starting a car is a huge draw on the electricity stored in there. Other than a bad wire you can't see, there are only a handful of components in the circuit to get the starter to turn the flywheel. You keep crossing stuff off in your brain because they 'should' be fine. Something isn't. You have one or more faulty components and/or a fault in the wiring.
By the way you will find some people at the parts store are sharp and most aren't

Also we have seen components fail that tested good at the store. Alternators and starters are notorious for being bad or short lived out of the box compared to most other auto parts. I had my SHO starter rebuilt locally twice in the last 2 years. The Chinese mfg replacement parts found in a lot of these units are crappy

 

[Danielle]

You are correct. It needs to be spinning to generate electricity. It cannot do anything without the car running. A good battery can start a car but it will drain quickly trying to start it without electricity coming in to maintain the charge. Starting a car is a huge draw on the electricity stored in there. Other than a bad wire you can't see, there are only a handful of components in the circuit to get the starter to turn the flywheel. You keep crossing stuff off in your brain because they 'should' be fine. Something isn't. You have one or more faulty components and/or a fault in the wiring.
By the way you will find some people at the parts store are sharp and most aren't

Also we have seen components fail that tested good at the store. Alternators and starters are notorious for being bad or short lived out of the box compared to most other auto parts. I had my SHO starter rebuilt locally twice in the last 2 years. The Chinese mfg replacement parts found in a lot of these units are crappy

Ya. Ive got a guy coming out to look at my car. Hes gonna charge me $40 to look at it. I love fixing my cars and dont necessarily like other people messing with it lol. But Im not a mechanic and dont know everything. I just cant figure out whats wrong with it. I cant afford to keep buying parts to guess the problem

 

[luigisho]

That's an important lesson. Throwing parts at something can get real expensive quickly. Watch what he does and learn as you go. Most of us didn't know a lot about cars when we bought one of these. That changes along the way. It's good to see a youngster working on a car, and a girl youngster is rarer still. Good job kid. Keep at it.

 

[Danielle]

That's an important lesson. Throwing parts at something can get real expensive quickly. Watch what he does and learn as you go. Most of us didn't know a lot about cars when we bought one of these. That changes along the way. It's good to see a youngster working on a car, and a girl youngster is rarer still. Good job kid. Keep at it.

Ya. Thanks. Ill let you know what happens when the guy comes. Hopefully the car is drivable still

 

[FREAK_SHO]

But why did Oreillys say it was good?

As stated, you can only trust the parts people...

 

[kevinspann]

This is killing me.


That wire with the orange tape on it? That goes to the starter. It's what triggers the solenoid to actually send power to the starter to crank the car over. It goes on a little tab near the two studs (bolts as you say) on the starter.

The car will never crank without it connected.

:facedesk:

It's the wire I was referring to checking to see if it had 12v when someone is trying to crank the car.

 

[kevinspann]

So your wire with orange tape should go to that little tab labeled 12v to trigger solenoid. Then there should be two positive wires that connect to the one stud labelled as such.

 

[Danielle]

So your wire with orange tape should go to that little tab labeled 12v to trigger solenoid. Then there should be two positive wires that connect to the one stud labelled as such.

Oh man. I got a guy to check it out for $40 but I gave him $50 instead. It started when he connected the orange wire to the bolt. (stud as you say lol). It fired up. But when he looked by my clutch switxh, he tested the orangish wire and white wire. He told me neither of the wires were hot. He grabbed a random wire laying around and attached them so that way the car starts up. He said it will be a lot less expensive to just do a push start instead of replacing everything.

 

[Danielle]

This is killing me.


That wire with the orange tape on it? That goes to the starter. It's what triggers the solenoid to actually send power to the starter to crank the car over. It goes on a little tab near the two studs (bolts as you say) on the starter.

The car will never crank without it connected.

:facedesk:

It's the wire I was referring to checking to see if it had 12v when someone is trying to crank the car.

And even with it started, Im still having the same problems with the RPMs. The RPMs keep going up and down. From 2500 down to 500/100 RPMs. I replaced the TPS twice already. And I dont see any vaccum leaks or what not.

 

[kevinspann]

And even with it started, Im still having the same problems with the RPMs. The RPMs keep going up and down. From 2500 down to 500/100 RPMs. I replaced the TPS twice already. And I dont see any vaccum leaks or what not.

Unplug the MAF and see what happens.

 

[Danielle]

Unplug the MAF and see what happens.

START it without the MAF plugged in?

 

[kevinspann]

START it without the MAF plugged in?

Yes.

 

[Danielle]

Yes.

What us it supposed to do if its unplugged?

 

[luigisho]

It will run in a default setting. If the sensor is bad it should stop running like crap. Was this car running correctly when you got it?

Keep in mind when the battery is disconnected or drained the computer loses memory and it has some idle and running relearning to do. The PCM (computer) collects data over time to adjust fuel trims and such. It might even stall with large drops in rpm's (like putting it into neutral from 3-4k rpm) trying to readjust to driving. It has a kind of adaptive computer program.

I don't imagine you can actually see most vacuum leaks.

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/how-to-reset-the-idle.10161/

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/maf-sensor-should-engine-die-if-its-unplugged.97330/
Also once you have it running you should be able to check engine codes. That helps with tracking down problems.

 

[Danielle]

It will run in a default setting. If the sensor is bad it should stop running like crap. Was this car running correctly when you got it?

Keep in mind when the battery is disconnected or drained the computer loses memory and it has some idle and running relearning to do. The PCM (computer) collects data over time to adjust fuel trims and such. It might even stall with large drops in rpm's (like putting it into neutral from 3-4k rpm) trying to readjust to driving. It has a kind of adaptive computer program.

I don't imagine you can actually see most vacuum leaks.

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/how-to-reset-the-idle.10161/

http://www.shoforum.com/index.php?threads/maf-sensor-should-engine-die-if-its-unplugged.97330/
Also once you have it running you should be able to check engine codes. That helps with tracking down problems.

The problem is I dont have anything to test engine codes. And the RPMs werent as bad as it has been the past few weeks when it was running. The RPMs moved up and down a bit when I first got it. Thats when I replaced the TPS. The RPMs were ok then the next week or so, the RPMs started going higher and lower than usual. I also dont have a check engine light on. So the car should start up like usual with the MAF unplugged and if it feels better then its the senaor thats bad.

 

[luigisho]

http://web.archive.org/web/20090917070939/http://www.shophoenixproject.com/eec/eec.htm