72 mav- fixed exhaust last night started it up to check for leaks and shut if off. Came out this morning to a dead car. Figured id left the key on or sometimes the brake lights switch sticks and leaves em on. Stuck the battery charger on for a couple hours turn the key on but no dash lights come on and it doesnt turn over. New battery, new starter, new battery and starter leads, new voltage regulator, EI, stock coil. Checked fuses on firewall and they all look good. Not sure if there is another location of fuses though or if that could even be the issue.
Did you check voltage on battery to see if you are even charging with the charger? I would check that and I would jumper the starter and see if you get anything. I did this with a screwdriver on my old vw, directly on the starter. These have the starter coil, so I think that is where you would do it. I would start by checking battery voltage. Sometimes if they are drained that low they don't have enough juice to kick in the starter coil and you won't get anything till it charges a bit, then you will get clicking, then it will be enough to start. Check your ground wires as well. I had issue with the ground keeping it from starting.
ok checked the battery while charging was around 5.8 left it for an hour or so and checked again. Charger said it was charged and it read about 7.5+ volts. Dash lights dimply came on, dome light came on when door was open, door buzzer sounded weak. It cant be the battery its brand new. Where should I start checking? How do I jump the starter? Im going to charge the battery with the leads off for now.
dont think thats it craig. Charger said it was charged then my check battery light was flashing on it. I took the ground lead off the battery and checked again with charger on it and it read 7.9 where as with the ground lead on the battery it read 5.9 Did the same with the ground lead on and positive lead off. Same changes. battery is charged up to 11.9-12.1 and when i put both leads on it drops to 6. Its fine with just one lead since the circuit is not complete. How do I find the problem? Im not sure where to start, ive check the battery leads for any shorting issues but dont see anything. Im guessing I should start at the starter solenoid and starter? How do I check those? UPDATE*** The following reading from the battery are with no charger on it. So let the battery charge for a while up past 12v. Put both leads back on and it stayed closer to where it was without them but you can watch it drop on the meter. Tried starting it (dome and dash lights much brighter) but the starter only made a weird clicking type sound (I think it sounded different than when the battery is low). Disconnected lead from other side of starter solenoid to starter and put both batt leads on and the voltage drops slowly as before. So I guess that rules out the starter? Next I i tested the battery again around 11-12v. This time I disconnected wires on the alternator. the wires from the solenoid meet at a black plastic thing and separate from there. The plastic thing itself has a metal tab on it that bolts to the alternator (not sure if this is for mounting or an actual connection). I unbolted the tab and 2 single wires that are pushed on to posts on the alt. Voltage stopped dropping. I try starting it and it just clicks again. I read the volts and theyre fine. I connect the top push on wire and voltage doesnt drop. I connect the metal tab voltage doesnt drop. The bottom one sparks when I connect it and voltage starts to drop. So I guess I found the wire? So why didnt the starter turn over if I found the problem and disconnected it? With the wires disconnected to the alt I turn on the ignition and read the voltage and it drops to 3-4v. Tried this with the lead to starter connected and disconnected. Not sure what that means. The wire to the alt that sparked is red or orange with a blue stripe and goes to the voltage regulator.
I still think your battery is low, and you don't have good connection. Usually when your starter solenoid clicks that means that it is doing it's job and engaging to allow supply power to go to starter, but there either isn't enough power or there is a bad connection. Reconnect all of your wires, keep charging, and double check connections including ground. If you don't get results try jump starting with another car, that will tell you if it's a power supply issue. Did you change anything on the power, battery, ect?
The battery is at 12+ volts so how could my battery be low? When i turn the ignition to on it drops to 3-4v how can that be normal? Im going to throw the charger on the battery over night just to appease you. I think it maybe the starter. When you turn your ignition to on it makes the connection in the solenoid to power the starter. So im guessing the starter is drawing the all the power when i turn the key on. The starter is a new rebuilt one so maybe it failed?
I would like to clarify that I am no expert, but I'm just trying to give you ideas. I had issues similar to yours and I searches youtube for answers, you might consider the same. My thought is that the battery is not truly charged, and that is why it is dropping with the ignition on. Is that when you turn part way, or all the way I.e. to start it?
Agreed! Open circuit voltage doesn't mean squat! From your description so far, you have a dead cell, AKA, bad battery. A load test will positively determine if the battery is serviceable or not!
well let the charger on overnight still not fully charged according to my charger. But it turned over the engine! So thats a step in the right direction. Unfortunately I didnt have my alternator on so I didnt run it. Im going to run new wiring to from the voltage regulator to the alt today.
Told you so....lol. You should still have each cell tested, they can do this at les schwab tires, or whatever similar shop you have where you live.
Well ive got a new issue/question. On the lead from the power side/battery side post of the starter solenoid is a wire that goes to the alternator. The wire has a rubber protector thing before the connect on the end that says fuseable link. I believe a fueseable link is just a fuse built into the wire? My alternator light is on as well so not sure if the two correlate but I redid the wiring including that wire so...
Usually the alt light will stay on until the alt receives the exciter signal. Bacall your car had to rev above a certain rpm before it charges. Not sure about the wire. But if you start it again, rev up the engine and the light should go away, which means it's charging...
