Car won't crank. Need help

[JKL]

got a 90 tsi awd and the car won't crank. I recently relocated my battery to the trunk. Before the relocation the car started w/o prob but there was an idle prob. During cold start up the idle would slowly rise from 1500rpm up to 2500 rpm. After a drive, it would idle normal with occasional stall feeling.
After the relocation the car requires longer cranks inorder to start if it starts at all. The voltage on the TT would read 12.4v w/key @ acc but when cranking it drops to 7.0v and the breaker would cut. Placed a breaker near the battery at the trunk. I placed the battery back to the front and it didn't help. Infact it just cranked and never started but the crank was slightly faster than with the battery @ the trunk and cranking voltage was slightly higher 8.0v.
As for the crank prob, while driving i was applying the brakes and the engine just shut down. Now it doesn't crank. Alt/battery new and was checked to be good @ pepboys. Need insight from the expert minds. I'm missing out on all the awd fun during this snow storm.

 

[DSM90AWD]

Check the battery/starter power/ground to make sure they are solidly connected.
Also any corrosion/moisture on the terminals or power/ground connections should be cleaned off

 

[-Stroked-]

Common problem with relocation kits. What size wire did you use. Sounds like you have to small of wire and it can't handle the amp's that the starter is drawing in order to turn over. You are running a wire nearly 10 times as long as the origonal. I wouldn't go with anything smaller than a 2 gauge wire. And make sure your ground is less than 3 feet long.

 

[JKL]

I used a 4 gauge wire and there's very little slack. The ground is 3ft. All the terminal is tight are the battery. The battery/alternator were checked and passed. Im gonna look into the starter. How would a bad starter ### the engine to shut down in the middle of a drive? I can't understand why the car doesn't crank.

 

[91tsirasinhell]

Sounds like the gauge of the wire is too small like Stroked said 2 gauge wire can handle alot more amps than 4 gague wire like you have. You could try checking the voltage at the starter to see if the wires are putting enough voltage to it to turn it over. But I would definatly put some larger gauge wire in there anyway. good luck!

 

[ddavisaf]

How's your ECU looking? Are the capacitors leaking?
Have you checked for spark and fuel yet?

You've hooked all the grounds back up right? The one from the starter to the battery, the starter to tranny, and the firewall to the battery

 

[JKL]

I replaced the caps a few months ago. I'll take the ecu out and check again. I placed all teh ground to the firewall as the Favq battery relocation direction stated. The guy Dan Aho and many others stated 4 gauge is enough and they haven't had any prob. Once this snow melts i'll start checking things again.

 

[JKL]

Got the starter out and it failed the pepboys test. I'll be lookin for a starter from ebay. But even with the starter replaced why did the engine just shut down in the middle of the drive?

 

[JKL]

I got a reman starter and installed it. Before replacing the starter, the car did nothing except flick lights when i turned the key. Now it makes clicking noise, No crank when the key is turned. I've double checked the connections to the starter. Made sure it's sitting flush. Now from my previous problems what would you experienced dsmers conclude? thanks in advance.

 

[JKL]

Stoked, I should've listened. Would've saved me alot of time. It was a combination of a bad battery and small wire gauge. When i took the battery to pepboys, they said it passed their test. Idiots! Got the battery to Autozone, they said the battery under load was slightly low. So I had it replaced. Place the battery in the front and it started up. Placed it in the trunk and it was clickin again. I'll get 0 gauge wires tomorow. I would've thought someone (Dan Anho) would correct the wire gauge misinformation listed on the Vfaq. As for the car dying during drive, once i started the car the check engine light came on. 12 - Volume air meter sensor came up and then my car died. Thanks for everyones input.

 

[ddavisaf]

Perhaps you didn't wire it correctly, or maybe have a bad fuse in the wiring for the relocation?