Newbie ForumBeginner/newbie/general DSM questions. first mods, how to run 10's when you haven't run 12's yet, any tech question that doesn't fit in another tech forum. New Members must limit their tech posts to this forum and sub-forums.
So I was driving down the road talking on the phone stopped in 3rd gear thought I was in 1st and stalled it. Long story short tried starting it over and over again but nothing? Had someone push me and jumped it and it started up. Drove it home and for another 2 weeks. Got back from work one day and again it wont start?
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Try cleaning your battery posts and each connection attached to the battery terminal. Sometimes the corrosion under the terminals will not give your car enough amperage to start but the lights and accessories will still come on, or sometimes it will just lose all connectivity and not allow anything to come on. When jumping your car, you usually connect the jumpers to the terminals bypassing any connection directly to the battery posts. When you push start the car, the alternator has enough power to keep it running for awhile. If cleaning the terminals fails, you probably need a new battery.
Look for corrosion around the battery and starter terminals also. On a side note, corrosion that is usually visible on the outside has already begun on the inside of a wire. Or the starter is beginning to fail.
A multimeter would be a tool to test your charging system and locating electrical problems.
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3 DSM's going strong since 2003!
make sure the ground wire coming off your battery is good and tight, mine was kinda loose last night adn it woudlnt start but i would move the ground wire just a little bit and it would start. Also when my starter started to go bad it woudlnt start like one time a month and just started becoming more common.
where my starter connects to the battery was corroded and gave me a clicking sound with no start, cleaned it up really good and worked fine for awhile, corroded again and got the same problem all over again check the connection
Well there are a few solutions. So lets start with the easiest, most inexpensive and work our way down:
Clean & Tighten first, if the problem persists, than continue.
If you have the tools or resources, test your electrical system. This will lead to one of a few more answers:
Change your battery, Change your Starter, Change your Alternator, or Electrical Problem
Also check the connection where it is grounded to the firewall since I had a problem like this and bought a new battery and everthing and I found out that my ground was loose so it was not holding a good connection when I would try to start it but I could jump it since I was clamping onto good clean terminals. I aslo put some felt washers under my terminals to help with corrosion problems that gave me problems previously!
As everyone has said, check your connections, make sure your alternator is charging the battery, but most importantly...before you go buy a new battery, check the electrolyte level and give the battery a trickle charge.
i had the same problem with my first DSM it was a 98 GST. Go ahead and clean your battery terminals real good and make sure they are tight. if the problem still occurs then get a neww battery. All i had to do was clean my terminals and it was just fine
Yea, if your motor mounts are shot, the trigger wire will come off very easy. Mine falls off once a week...I need both motor mounts and a new connector.
I tryed cleaning the terminals still the same problem. Went out got a new battery and still the same. I go to start it and i here a little humm noise but wont even start to kick over. I noticed that when you touch the 2 wires that there was no spark at all? Any ideas
also a good cleaning tool for the extra acid is baking soda and water mixed (not goupy just a lite white color) and clean the terminals and everything or if they look shot just replace everything it wont be expensive and these cars are 10 years old at least, also make sure ## battery is still good check the age that might be the case too good luck bro
If you have so much corrosion on your terminals that it interferes with the connection, that battery is toasted. Since you can jump it, does it stay running or die out. If stays running, then chances are it's your battery.
I just replaed the battery!! Nothing it dosent even kick over at all i can here a humm noise like the car is getting power but the starter isint gettting any power. I touched the pos and neg wires together no spark? What does that tell us?
Check for a shitty alarm install... mine also had that going for it. The white and black ignition wires where exposed and touching. The starter wire was only held on by a few strands of copper, it wouldn't start normally, only when being jumped.
I just replaed the battery!! Nothing it dosent even kick over at all i can here a humm noise like the car is getting power but the starter isint gettting any power. I touched the pos and neg wires together no spark? What does that tell us?
Your starter! check your starter! try to kick it over by bridging the terminals on the starter...wait that wouldn't work very good. Do you know anyone with a remote starter button? Check all your wiring to the starter too, maybe one has frayed loose. Its happened to me before, and left me stranded until I got a new terminal crimped on.
I just took the starter out and made sure everything was tight still not starting. Im thinking possibly the alternator?
Any way to test the alternator?
Check your voltage. A fully charged battery should be 12.6V. With the car running and your alternator working properly, the voltage should be around 14V.
all you are hearing is the fuel pump, check the cables for corrosion and make sure they are clean and tight, i just fought a problem where the factory top mounts where just shot and would set my alarm off and it would start and then not start. So you pulled the starter when you had it out did you get it tested to see if the starter was any good? Also check the ignition fuses. you can test the starter at home by grounding the body of the starter and then touching the big stud where the positive cable connects and the small stud where the ignition connects together at the same time. If it kicks in and spins its good if not then its shot. If you try this make sure to take the starter out of the car a voltage arc like that can take out electrical if still hooked up in the car
and if you have a five speed have you checked the neutral safety switch at the top of the clutch pedal assembly that would cause the starter to not have any power if it is faulty
Last edited by brassc2007; 11-01-2009 at 07:38 PM.
Reason: Auto-merged with previous post to prevent "bumping"
I just took the starter out and made sure everything was tight still not starting. Im thinking possibly the alternator?
Any way to test the alternator?
Did you check the ground for the battery, and starter? You said when you put the battery terminals on, there was no little spark. Did you have the key on? Check all your ground straps one may be frayed. If it'll push off then its something in your starting system.
Thanks for the ideas. Im going to check the neutral safety switch at the top of the clutch pedal today, as well as the ground wires AGAIN.. Ive never hurd of the neutral saftey switch though what am I looking for? And the ground wires I have one going to the starter and one going to the firwall that I bolted in. Correct?
at the top of your clutch pedal it is a little switch that just slides in and out when you push on the clutch. To test this take the connector off the switch, then take a paper clip and jump the two terminals together and then turn the key to start make sure you have it out of gear otherwise the car will take off on you because when you jump this switch you no longer have to push the clutch in to start it. I only use this method to test the switch.
My car wont start? Unless I jump it
check the connection
