[RESOLVED] Bad starter, alternator or battery?

[JMiller]

Ok, so my night was going good until i went to get some gas, i got out the car turned off the radio and lights and started putting gas in. After put the gas in i go to start the car and nothing, not one sound at all. My lights come on very bright, radio will come on nice and loud(with a 12" JBL/700watt amp), horn beeps but not start. Luckily for me there was someone there to help me so i was like I'll jump it, drive home and switch cars. Well the car wouldn't jump start, nothing happened at all. So me him and another guy push my car back and i get in and they push and i start it and it worked but i had to keep the RPMs up or it would die. When i got home with the power of my e brake at every stop light, i turned the car off and turned it on and it came on no problem. I turned it off again and turned the lights and radio on and the starter made absolutely no sound at all and the car didn't come on or even turn over. So i ask battery, starter or alternator which do you think is wrong. Also tanks for reading this entire thing.

 

[crimsondragon]

Starter. Obviously your battery works because radio and everything else worked. You made no mention of a battery light on the gauge cluster so more than likely your alternator works too. If it didn't, I gurantee you wouldn't have made it more than 5 minutes of driving before the car completely died from a dead battery. You push started it so there's nothing wrong with the engine. So I say starter.

 

[beyondspexj]

i agree with starter. jack the car up so you can reach the starter easily. give it a few taps with a hammer and see if it will start then.

 

[luv2rallye]

Most likely starter but also could be loose/dirty battery cable connections at battery or starter. 80 amps of starter current trying to flow through even 0.1 ohm resistance would prevent starter from even trying. Since this is far easier to check look at them first. Also make sure the large battery negative cable goes under a starter bolt (not the block) as well as to the body frame. These should be separate cables coming from battery negative (not to frame first, them to starter bolt).

 

[beyondspexj]

^ yes haha for got to make sure i put that in there. light taps is all you need to give it.

 

[luv2rallye]

Of course if the taps work (which they may) you just proved the starter has a problem and needs to be fixed/replaced. Note you can usually get better starters (at same price) at a starter/alternator repair shop as well as have yours repaired there. See yellow pages.

 

[JMiller]

Thanks for all the replies, no the battery light was not on but once i got it home after maybe 5 min of driving it started up fine until i turned on something else(radio, lights). Also once i got the car running the lights came on and the car stayed on.(didn't want to try the radio until i got home). If it was a bad starter i thought it wouldn't start at all once you turn the car off, but mine came back on as if the 5 min drive charged the battery enough to start the car or turn the radio on not both. I'm going to check everything to so. Its an Optima redtop battery(not so new) not sure if that makes a difference or not. Thanks.

*Update*
Took the battery to autozone and they said it needed to be charged. So when i get it back i will update this again, in hope of telling everyone the problem was the battery. Thank again

 

[tunerinms]

Like lov2ralle said it could be a loose or corroded battery cable. I had this problem with my car for a very long time and would just pour coke on it and jiggle it. It finally got too bad and i disconnected the wire and dipped it in some stuff my dad had to eat off the corrosion and I also took a wire brush to it and have never had a problem since.

As soon as you turn the key to the start position everything goes dead doesnt it?

 

[turbotemper]

OK i just replaced my battery & alt and about the do the HB/CP just to be safe.

Your problem sounds like you might have a bad starter.
Could be not enough cold cranking amps left in the battery.(Close to dead)
Have them test it while its in the car or just take it down there.
Replace it if its under warranty. Or buy a new one with a warranty.

I was lucky and both my battery and alt were under warranty so i paid zero this time around.

 

[JMiller]

Yea i dropped off the battery at autozone this morning at 8 cause they said it needed to be charged. This same thing happend to me the last time i had work done to my car that took a few months. Right now i'm just waiting for someone to come home so i can go pick it up. Will hopefully update again in a few hours. Thanks

 

[JMiller]

Ok, i got my battery back and its fully charged and tested good but was not the problem so I'm now trying to take off the starter.

 

[tunerinms]

I swear it sounds just like the problem that I had. Check those cables.

 

[JMiller]

-UPDATE- ok i took the starter off last Saturday and got it tested by 2 different places and it tested good. So i put it back on and it worked fine, until today. I got in my car about 12:30am and it did the exact same thing as last friday, nothing. Everything works fine but the car wonk crank. So me and my friends push started it and it started and stayed on fine. My dad thinks that its happening because its so cold, but it was just as cold last year and this wasn't happening. So if anyone has any ideas of what else this could be please tell me. I checked the starter, fuse and the wires. Please help me fix this.

Thanks

 

[DSM1G90]

You do have main fuses that are attached to the Positive cable along with large fuses under that cap by the right shock tower (course, I'm thinking of 1G, thus don't know if 2G's have this same box by the shock tower..). One leg of the main fuse could be breaking contact in its respective socket.

Pull the fuse, clean the legs and reinsert the fuse. Been there and done that a few times - the hard way to find out junk.

Good luck-DSM

 

[mitsuawd]

Had the same problem with a fork lift at work ended up being corroded battery cables replaced them and was good. They may look good on the outside but check the ends for corrosion would go up the cable and need replacing. Check them all the ones that go to the battery, starter, alternator/generator. That would also cause your battery to drain, get a multimeter and check your voltage, see if it starts dropping guessing 14 volts at alternator.

 

[JMiller]

I'm about to replace all the wires going to the starter in a minute, but what i don't get is why did it work fine everyday sun.- fri. then mess up sat. I will also clean the fuse, i did not find any type of relay between the battery and the starter. I only found the fuse in the box near the air filter that said ignition.

 

[JMiller]

Ok i replaced all the wires and it still didn't work so i just said f it and bought a new starter (even thought the old one tested good) and bam! good as new. It starts perfectly now. So if anyone else is having starter problems and the test says its good take it to a starter/alternator shop and have them test/fix it or just do like me and buy a new one.=RESOLVED=
Oh and thanks to everyone for all the help.