Not sure!

[1992ETTSi]

Here is the down low. 1 have a 92 TSi AWD, it's been running fine until now that is. So it had been 45 below 0 up here in Alberta for the past while, I went to start my car and she would crank for a bit than click-click. (car is plugged in) so I try to boost it with no luck. I just figured the battery was toast, so I put the new battery in and now it won't even crank (but I do have power) I will do a little searching on the forum but in the meantime if anyone has any info that would be awesome.

Thx in advance,
Rob.

 

[blkgst97]

Have you tried tapping the starter? Maybe it's frozen.

 

[1992ETTSi]

I guess that should of been my first clue! I should still be able to push start it right?

 

[blkgst97]

If the battery is good and all systems are operating correctly, yes I would assume so.

 

[1990AWD]

Check your battery terminals and maybe try giving the starter a light tap with a hammer.

 

[EclipseGS-92]

As long as you have good charge in the battery and everything else is in working order you can push start it and it should run on battery alone ( even if alternator is bad), beyond that tap the starter incase its bound or frozen. Does it engage at all? Or try to spin over the motor? And if you are no longer getting the clicks while trying, Check the starter relay and fuses, or try to manually Jump the posts on the solenoid with an insulated screwdriver.

 

[sniver]

Are you sure the block heaters working?

Next its 45 degrees below zero, and your trying to make a car run, is your brain working ?!

Either your oils frozen into sludge, you have a bad ground/positive connection(check bell housing ground, and starter positive), or you starters out of commision. Can you heat her up somehow?

Sent from my Droid

 

[1992ETTSi]

Today is 4 above 0, so I will give the starter a tap later today and hopefully that works.

Thx to all.

 

[1992ETTSi]

So I push started it and she started right up. I would assume that this means it is indeed the starter?

On a bad note though, after taking the car for a drive I notice it is over heating like crazy!!! I'm scared to even ask why this may be happening. (and yes, it did have coolant)

 

[sniver]

So I push started it and she started right up. I would assume that this means it is indeed the starter?

On a bad note though, after taking the car for a drive I notice it is over heating like crazy!!! I'm scared to even ask why this may be happening. (and yes, it did have coolant)

Do the fans kick on when it starts getting hot?

 

[1992ETTSi]

Do the fans kick on when it starts getting hot?

Yes they do. It also now has no coolant in the overflow. Not sure if it dumped it on the ride or what???? But it did have coolant before starting it.

 

[Guy Random]

Well obviously you have a bad starter and a large coolant leak. Sounds like the beginning of a basket case.

 

[SpawnedX]

Please learn to use proper titling structure when you make a post.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

If your starter is the issue, you may want to go ahead and check the connections to the starter. If you have one that is bad then you will likely get only the 'click-click-click' that a starter gives as a tell-tale sign of a bad connection. After you confirm all connections are sound and if it still does not function, take the starter and have it tested. It's the easiest way to figure out the status of your starter.

As far as coolant and overheating, you should start the vehicle and allow it to warm up. Leave the cap off and watch for bubbles in the coolant. Next, you need to check for the smell of burning coolant. Remove your plugs and check them as well as perform a compression/leak down test. Pressure test your coolant system, and of course change your thermostat for good measure.

After all of this is done, get back to us with results.

 

[sniver]

If your starter is the issue, you may want to go ahead and check the connections to the starter. If you have one that is bad then you will likely get only the 'click-click-click' that a starter gives as a tell-tale sign of a bad connection. After you confirm all connections are sound and if it still does not function, take the starter and have it tested. It's the easiest way to figure out the status of your starter.

As far as coolant and overheating, you should start the vehicle and allow it to warm up. Leave the cap off and watch for bubbles in the coolant. Next, you need to check for the smell of burning coolant. Remove your plugs and check them as well as perform a compression/leak down test. Pressure test your coolant system, and of course change your thermostat for good measure.

After all of this is done, get back to us with results.

Add to that replacing your coolant cap on the motor, they are notorious for going bad.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Add to that replacing your coolant cap on the motor, they are notorious for going bad.

Good eye.

This should be #1 due to how cheap it is.

 

[sniver]

Out of the handful of coolant issues that I didn't see any obvious signs to, about 2/3 of them were due to faulty original caps. If a cap is bad, it will lower the operating pressure of the system and it will boil out as steam,at a much lower temp. Rather hard to notice if your not looking.

 

[luv2rallye]

Disconnect the large battery cables at both ends (battery and starter). Clean them with 100 grit sandpaper as well as the battery posts. Then retighten them and coat the positive ends with dielectric grease or vaselene to protect from corrosion. Most non-starter engagement but power elsewhere symptoms are due to these cable ends not being clean and tight. Even 0.1 ohm resistance in a cable connection will drop so much voltage there while trying to crank that the starter will just click and not engage (starters draw 50-100 amps while rest of engine draws only 10).