Dead Car....next step..?

Hi. I have a 94 w/175K. ATX. I went to start my car it was completely dead. No power at all. I had the battery charged(autozone to 650cca) and tried to start the car with these results:

1.)open door-interior lights on...
2.)lights on dash on with key in ign 1
3.) lights on dash change normally when key at ign2
4.) key at start......everything goes dead..
So everything is fine up to hitting the start position. The battery goes completely dead again within 30 minutes with no activity.

THe first time this happened, I heard the MFI relay clicking so I swapped that out and tried a fresh battery (I have another 3s).
Same results above but no clicking relay(obviously since it is a good one). I tested the bad MFI relay and it fails both tests at pins 5 and 7(VOltage and continuity) so I assumed it was that, but it is not the root of the problem.

WHat are the next steps to track this down?
My next thoughts are the

1.)ecu, or another major electrical component.

SOmething is shutting the circuit off almost immediately.

I will pull the ecu to check the (usual) capacitors that leak,:uhoh: but any ideas on what would fail and cause the car to drain the battery and not get any operation past ign2? I have a remote starter and aftermarket sunroof installed,but haven't had any major trouble with those.

Any ideas are appreciated...

when my ecu went, i didn't have any battery problems, and the car started just stalled instantly.

since it's an SL you have a volt meter, whats it reading in ignition setting 2? maybe there's a battery drain.

Thanks for the reply vectorspecialist.

It is actually a base and not an SL(sorry about the typo). It does have the voltmeter on the dash so I will check that today and see what happens to the voltage when the key is in ign2. All fuses are fine by the way.

Any ideas on possible culprits? (solenoid, ign cylinder, gremlins?)

sounds like a bad starter solenoid

can you bump start an atx?

After numerous checks, the battery was dead. It was getting a small charge, but dying within 20 minutes. I used a charge myself at home, and put it in the car and started it up fine. 30 minutes later...dead battery. It was just the end of the road for the battery...

Ahh, glad to see you found the culprit.

And to vector: No, you can't bump start an auto.

PROBLEM IS BACK!! The new battery is dead after a couple days. What could be draining the battery while the car just sits there? alternator? starter?

All interior lights are off(headlights, dome lights radio are all off)

Any ideas on what to check?? Thanks.

didn't think you could, just making sure.


a battery drain from my knowledge, can be caused by any electronic system in the car. from alt to lights or plugs.

do the terminal wires on the battery have any acid on em? or are they warn out looking. maybe it's not a drain but just a bad connection.

do you have any aftermarket electronics in the car (amplifier, subs, etc)?

I had a similar problem with my old car...turned out my amp was slowly draining the battery, even when it was supposedly off. If i didnt drive it for a few days it would be dead.

How long did you go without starting it when it died?

also may be a charging issue...how many volts was your alternator putting out when they checked it?

Very well could be the altenator.

Thanks for the replys. The only aftermarket items are the sunroof and the remote starter.

The battery connectors are ok (6/10) --. but the connection is good. And with a fresh battery, starts are no problem.

My trials with a known good battery where:
1st battery
Start--> 12 hours--> dead
New battery -->Start-->4 hours-->start-->12 hours--start--> 3days-->dead
So after three days something obviously drained the battery.

I am going to try this test to see what circuit might be the problem-->

Disconnect positive terminal on battery-->
Put multimeter across negative and positive terminals--> read amperage
Remove fuses one at a time--> see if the amperage drops at each fuse removal to see if that circuit is the problem

Have you guys heard of this test?
I will post results this weekend....

sounds pretty thurough. good luck hunting down the leak.

I had the starting system checked at Advance. These were the results:

new battery-
tested good but in need of a charge(it was registering a solid 14 volts in the car dash meter).

starter-
low cranking amps- amp draw is low with ok voltage-starter is ok

alternator-
diode open: charging system problem(although the draw was (almost) the same with the car on and loaded(high beams) as when it was idling) <-- i.e.- no load vs. load

The drain test passed at 0.00A. (although I know there is a drain at some point)

SO.,.... the conclusion based on this is a bad alternator-or more accurately- one that is starting to go. I will replace the alternator and post the results...
Thanks for the help everyone!

Results.... Bad ALternator!!!! If anyone has these symptoms...check your alternator at a local store. THanks for the help everyone. Stealthee was right on as usual!!! Thanks vectorspecialist as well!