Random...not starting!?!?

Hi guys/gals...

This is weird...early last week...my car had already been running...I made a quick stop somewhere, the car was off for maybe 2 minutes...and when i tried to start it again...no go. Everything had power, guage cluster, radio, heater fan...but when I turned the key to start...I got a series of rapid "clicking" noise and the dash lights dimmed (sounded like a battery dieing) and I stopped...I got a boost (which wasn't easy at 6:30am)...and was on my way...didn't do it again until this morning. Same thing...had been running for an hour and a half...shut it off for 5-10 minutes...no go...clicking...boost...no problem...I drove five minutes home, shut it off, and started it right back up again...started it an hour later again...no problem.

What the hell is going on!?

Only recent changes are O2 Sensor, Fuel Filter, Driver's Side Axle...HELP!

Jason :(

main relay?

yeah check your main relay and your ignition coil. I have a bad main relay adn my car doesnt like starting when its hot inside the car, right after it stalls or is turned off, or basically when its been sitting in the heat for an hour.

yeah check your main relay and your ignition coil. I have a bad main relay adn my car doesnt like starting when its hot inside the car, right after it stalls or is turned off, or basically when its been sitting in the heat for an hour.


I had a funny feeling you guys were gonna say MR...but I can still hear it "clicking"...I used to have that problem in my STD...but only when it was hot outside...the first time it was -8C and today it was 2C...so it wasn't too hot...plus this doesn't sound the same...at all. When I had a bad main relay before...the car would turn over, and over, and over...just dieing slowly...it didn't have this rapid freaky clicking associated with it??

Ignition Coil? Why does that sound expensive?

Jason :(

not the starter?

boost means jump start? if that's what your car needs then it might be the battery not being able to charge or the alternator not being able to charge the battery.

yea i would guess that its your Alternator!
I had the same problem last winter...

boost means jump start?

Boost = hooking up booster cables to another running car's battery and then starting my car...

Not the altenator...say it ain't so!

Jason

yeah just go to your local autozone, orielly's whatever you have around there, and they usually check to see what kind of voltage its putting out.... that should give you your answer. Also check all your grounds and clean your cables............good luck

my car was doing that and it was a bad connection on the top of the battery... get one of those post cleaner things.. like 3 or 4 bucks i think and clean it all up really good...... i had to replace the ends where the battery cable connects to the battery due to corrosion... if you have the fuses up there for the automatic seatbelts its a pain to replace the connector with the fuse assembly on it... not to mention expensive... i figured out a way to build my own fuse assebly so if u wanna know more lemme know... if you need to do that... good luck man.... sure sucks when your car wont start and youdont know why

Ok...here's the latest update...

This morning (6:00am/dark out) my car was running and I jumped out to run into some place...when I came back out and got in the car I notice the gauge lights 'very' dim. So I shut the radio and heater off and they got a little brighter...when I accellerated they got a lot brighter but dimmed slightly when I stopped again...over the next 30 minutes of driving they got back to where they should be and I was able to turn the heater back on and the radio...got home...car off for about an hour...came out, started right up and everything was operating normally???

Could this be caused by anything you guys have suggested?

Jason

I had the same type of thing going on and it actually sorta went away. I thought I'd have to replace the battery for sure after one day I took a nap for an hour and left the lights on. The car started right up and I rode around through town in 3rd gear for 30 minutes and it was fine... that was like 8 months ago. I also had that Jacobs Ignition which draws extra juice (when car is running). You should play Sherlock Holmes and check for breaks in wiring basically everywhere. My car was bogging a bit in the rain the other day cuz a big SUV was rooster-tailing water all over my car and I'm sure I got some wires wet. I think I'm going to reloom the main harness for better protection. But, yeah, check your grounds and all connections... starter, battery, etc. It wouldn't hurt to have a parts place see what your voltage is putting out either. GL

I would say just check your grounds an cable to the battery.. it could really be just about anything..... Any noticeable loss in power?

Any noticeable loss in power?

Nope...nothing like that...just the dimming of the lights today, and the two times not starting? I'm baffled. (and also not good with all things electrical)

Jason

Hey mine was going that aswell, it cut out one morning though and wouldnt start, had to get it jump started, the next morning the same thing happened and for about a week it did it, brought it to the garage and they brought up the idle a bit, That following week was doing the same thing but the battery wasnt going dead anymore just kept cutting out, brought it back and they redid the whole carb and just gave it a full service, said the cause was that it was running lean, its been going fine since, it had them puzzled though for ages over it, first they tought it was electrics, not charging, bad altenator then they check the battery and leads but all was grand, anyway, its going great for me now!

I've solved the problem...it's the "regulator" in the altenator...it took me a while to figure it out (with help from my Dad)...but there is a little place to put a screwdriver in the the altenator and deactivate the regulator...when I did this, everything just surged to life...the lights got brighter, the rpm's increased, the heater got more forceful...and the battery tester that I had connected to the battery went off the chart. The power is there it's just not getting where it needs to go...because of the regulator.

So...my Dad is gonna take my old altenator that crapped out on me and re-build it and then we'll swap it out (then he might fix the regulator in this one so then I have a spare)

Anyhoo...just thought I'd pass that along!

Jason