RE: Almost Made It 2 Weeks!

[dan@hobbyetc.com (Dan Brideau)]

Your problem really sounds like a collection of smaller problems.

I sill think your battery wires are not in good shape.  You should see better than 12 volts any time your motor is running.  If you have some crazy wacko stereo or big mamma lights and stuff then maybe you would see less than 12.  Your car came with lots of Bosch parts.  They are like AC Delco to GM or Motorcraft to Ford.


What you should buy (borrow) is a test light.  You can make sure your car thinks it's on when the key is on.  This way you could diagnose your ignition switch AKA Starter switch AKA Key.

Clamp one wire from the light on the battery negative side (-) and touch the other to the coil.  Your coil is about the size of a soda can, and is near the windshield but still under the hood.  There are two little terminals and one big one.  The little ones will most likely have a bunch of little wires sprouting off em.  One of those is marked 1 and the other 15 .  Your light should light when you touch it between the 15 and the minus side of your battery while the key is in the "run" position. And go out while in the off.  If you can get your machine to run while holding the key, try wiggling the key in the "run" position while your light is connected.  If it blinks, your switch is NFG.


Make extra sure your battery wires are all really really tight.  Just touching wont due.  And clean too.  If you want to try an easy fix, pour Coka-cola on the terminals.  It does wonders, for a few days. 

 

>
>> I'm STILL confused : ) What do you mean by "dying"?
>> Does the car actually fire?
>
>If you mean fire by the car attempting to start, then yes.
>
>> How fast does it crank over, if at all (crank over meaning the
>> starter turning the engine, before it starts).
>
>It cranks over normally!
>
>> So if you let go of the
>> key it will die instantly, meaning that it never started at all.
>
>Yes!  It cranks over, but the second I let go of the key the engine stops.
>As long as I hold the key in start the engine runs.  I've learned that if I
>gas it at just the right time as I let go of the key the engine continues to
>run and runs normally.  I've also learned that if I have jumper cables
>installed and someone is jumping me the car will start normally without any
>hassles just like it did before I had this problem.
>
>I replaced the battery last night (walking 1/2 mile to the auto parts store
>and walking back with the battery...ouch!) and it started nicely on the
>second try, but then the engine stopped after maybe 20 seconds without any
>user intervention.  It was just idling.
>
>> Or meaning that it fires every once in awhile and the starter is required
>to
>> keep it turning over? If the starter cranks over fine, then you should
>> look to fuel or spark for your problem.
>
>I believe that the starter is working fine.  I'm hearing that maybe my
>alternator could be causing this?  It's a Bosch and it's pretty new looking,
>so maybe that's it...  I haven't looked at my spark plugs yet, and I'm kind
>of afraid to pull one out and hold it near a metal part!  I did put in STP
>fuel injector cleaner and octane booster a 1/2 day before this happened.
>But I get such good gas mileage (:-) that I still have maybe 3/4 of a tank
>left!  Could that have caused it?  I've noticed that my fuel distributor
>makes a rapid clicking noise.  If that's not normal, then maybe it's the
>STP!
>
>After getting jumpstarted last night so I could go home from work I was
>keeping an eagle eye on my volts guage.  At times when I was cruising ~65
>the needle was at 13.5.  And when I was going slower (either in stop & go or
>~40) the needle was dropping very slowly.  The lowest it went was ~11.5.
>And this was without lights or radio on.
>
>I mentioned before that I could gas it just before I let go if the key and
>the engine would stay started.  I should mention that when this doesn't work
>and I'm holding the key in the start position (grinding the hell out of my
>starter surely) I can rev it and rev it and rev it but the volts guage won't
>go over 8 or so.  This seems strange!
>
>> Good luck!
>
>It seems like I'll need it.  I'm still recovering financially from getting
>it towed/fixed two weeks ago!  I might actually have to deal with it until
>6-15!  YUCK!
>
>> 	PS One of the small wires to the starter may be for the voltage guage, I
>> don't know, but one of them is to activate the solonoid. It pulls the
>> starter gear into position and then pulls power from the large red wire
>> attached to the starter with a 13mm nut to actually turn the motor over.
>
>Beats me!  I'm still learning the mechanics of this thing.... I can tell you
>that I have these extra guages: Temp, Vaccuum, Volts, lbs per square inch,
>and amps (not hooked up).
>
>
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