Re: hard start! (alt. or starter)

[Shawn C Meze <skerocdriver@juno.com>]

On Sat, 13 Nov 1999 19:50:38 -0800 Sal Guzzo <yu129742@yorku.ca> writes:
>Problem:  car won't start!
>
>Okay here's the deal.  Had the battery checked and it checked out fine?
>The car will start once boosted.  I will drive around (timed elapsed
>doesn't make a difference).  once I stop and shut down the car, it won't
>start.  wtf!  I had the timing and fuel mixture set last week and now
I'm
>contemplating that it's either the starter or the alt.  Which shall I
check
>next.  My dad recharged the battery and it started the car no problem. 
he
>drove the car for about a half hour and then once he got home (after
>shutting her down), it wouldn't start.  The volt meter in the car is
>reading about 13V when running.
>
>Could it be the alt draining the bat. or maybe the solenoid on the
starter
>is doing the draining.  any insights will be greatly appreciated.



The alternator can NEVER drain the battery. It can, however, not fully
charge the battery which is what I think your trying to say.
So, you say you got a simple charging problem? Heres what you check:
Battery cables and terminal's. Old cables don't do such a good job for
conducting electricity. They're cheap and you can get a larger size cable
which helps the process. 
Make sure the ground wires are solidly connected to the chassis.
It sounds like you might also have a bad cable going to the starter. (Not
just the big cable, check out the little wire too.) 
I dunno about where you live but locally you can take an alternator or a
starter to the local Chief Auto Parts stores and they will test them for
you for free. Worse case is you replace the starter. 
HTH!!


              Shawn Meze
86' Jetta GLi           82' Scirocco GTi
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and
best looking Scirocco in all of San Diego!
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1308/index.htm

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