Car won't turn over, battery o.k.

[greensho]

My '93 ATX won't turn over to start. This is minutes after I spend over $400 on brand new tires. This same thing keeps happening.

Exactly the same thing happened about a month ago and I had it checked by a good mechanic and he said everything (including the starter) seemed good. He said the battery seemed little low (new since last December) so he recharged it and replaced the battery terminals with new ones. Ever since then the car haven't had any sign of having problems starting again, until today.

I know the obvious is a bad starter (my third in three years I've had the car) but can it be anything else? Faulty starter relay or relay circuit? What can I check?

Deeply frustrated with this car. I've already spend a lot of money since I had the car and every time I start believing the car is running just right things like this keep happening.

 

[munkee]

When it won't turn over, do you have power to the rest of the car?(lights, stereo,etc.) What happens when you turn the key? How did you get it to start the last time, by changing the terminals?

 

[SHO--ripper]

Have you replaced the solenoid?

 

[greensho]

What I should of said originally was that the car won't crank at all. The lights, stereo, etc. comes on and since I took the battery to AutoZone for test and they said it's good.

This time, first time I noticed something isn't right was when I stopped at the tire store. After agreeing to get the tires, the car barely cranked but started trying to pull into the service garage. After the tires were installed, the car cranked normally so I though there wasn't a problem. The car completely stopped cranking right after my next stop at the supermarket. That's where my car is now.

BTW, this is almost the exact situation I had a month ago. All of a sudden the car wouldn't crank at all. I left the car overnight at work and when I tried the next day first it didn't crank at all. Then, after few attemps all of a sudden, the car cranked like there wasn't any problem so I didn't have to tow it to the service station.

Any thoughs?

 

[greensho]

Q) Have you replaced the solenoid?

No I haven't. As it relates to ignition I've done in last two years:
- Starter (replaced twice 'cause first replacement malfunctioned after 6 months)
- New alternator on 12/2002
- New Heavy Duty Battery on 12/2002
- Replaced both battery terminals one month ago.
- 60K was done a year or so ago.

Now, how do I check/replace the solenoid? Is the part readily available at a local auto parts store? Is it hard to replace myself (not much of a hands on person)? Thanks.

 

[greensho]

Q) Have you replaced the solenoid?

No I haven't. As it relates to ignition I've done in last two years:
- Starter (replaced twice 'cause first replacement malfunctioned after 6 months)
- New alternator on 12/2002
- New Heavy Duty Battery on 12/2002
- Replaced both battery terminals one month ago.
- 60K was done a year or so ago.

Now, how do I check/replace the solenoid? Is the part readily available at a local auto parts store? Is it hard to replace myself (not much of a hands on person)? Thanks.

 

[BenSwanson]

any oil in the plug wells?

 

[Rob94]

Oil in the plug wells won't prevent the car from turning over. I had a similar problem last week. A jump start let it turn over immediately. After basic testing, I replaced the battery and have had no issues since. Batteries are relatively cheap. I would suggest getting a new one. You could also use a handheld voltometer and measure the voltage between the negative and positive terminals, which should read approximately 12 volts. Re-measure it once the engine is running. You should then read anywhere between 13 and 15 volts.

 

[DHMag]

id replace the solenoid.

 

[89 black SHO mtx]

after reading the posts i have to ask if you have checked to see if you are getting a start signal to the solinoid?? it could be a bad switch causing you this grief? take a test light to the start wire and see if it lights when you turn the swiutch to start! if it does then take the light to the output side of the solinoid and see oif it lights there. now if you have a dvm you can do a voltage drop to check and see if you have a bad cable. now i'm not sure aboput your sho but my friends tbird had a brake switch to start the car. if you have to have the brake pressed to start it that switch could be bad as well. just some jumbled thougths to drive you crazy with. good luck Ken

 

[aviator]

i had the exact same problem. it would occasionaly not turn over, or even sometimes just turn over slowly. i thought it was a battery also, but it wasn't. i ended up putting a new starter in it, and have had no problems since.

not too bad of a job for a novice. it took me about two hours and a lot of rags to finish the job.

 

[Bizzy]

Check the terminals on your battery. Sometimes they can be making good enough contact for the lights and such to come on, but not enough to crank the car. Take the terminals off, clean the posts and the terminals, double check the connections if you have aftermarket terminals, reconnect and try again.

Also check the connections on the solenoid. Make sure nothing is loose and check that the little tiny plug on connector is clean and free of corrosion.

Just a place to start, it's always easier to fix the simple (and free) things first.

Edit: Not sure of the location of the solenoid in a Gen II... doh I'm a Gen I girl. thumb

<small>[ May 26, 2003, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: Bizzy ]</small>

 

[greensho]

To make the long story short, it was the bad starter (my third replacement in three years!). There's a twist to this story though.

When I called AAA to have the car towed to the repair shop that installed a new starter only 10 months ago, the tow guy said he knew how to start it and proceeds to hammer the starter (a tip also mentioned in this forum somewhere). Well it doesn't work so he towed it to the shop.

Finally, after checking the car the repair shop tells me the problem is with the start BUT, although under warrenty his distributor for the starter won't replace it 'cause it is damaged by the hammering!

As a compromise, I ended up paying $60 for a remanufactured one and now I'm back on the road (for now).