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View Full Version : Weird no-start issue. Barely cranks


Prelude Guy
04-03-2017, 07:55 PM
All,

I hope some of you can help me. I have an '89 hatch with a Redtop SR.

The car has sat for almost 2 years. I took it off the road to install an new Spec R T28 turbo. I had other things to do so it sat. I finally installed the turbo last week. All I did was take the exhaust manifold off, changed the turbo, and reinstalled.

I don't have the small Odyssey battery that I normally use. It is being used in another car right now. I have a larger battery that I used in my E36 M3. The battery is on the ground and I am using jumper cables from it to the car's battery cables.

When I tried to start it the first time, I only heard the starter click. It was the solenoid activating. The battery I was using was almost fully charged. I had another spare battery so I hooked that one up. Basically the same thing. This time it started to barely crank. I mean very slowly cranking.

I then connected up my Die Hard jump starter/battery charger. This thing has enough power on its own to start a car. I connected it up directly to my car. Again, the car barely cranks. I then connected the jump starter to the M3 battery on the ground with jumper cables from them to the car. The car cranks slightly faster, but still not enough to even come close to starting.

One thing I noticed is the battery cables are getting hot. Even when I connected just my jump starter directly to the car, those cables were getting hot as well.

I then put a volt meter at the starter. I noticed with the key in the Acc position, the reading at the starter was 11 volts. When my girlfriend tried to crank the car, the reading went down to 0 as the car barely cranked.

Any ideas? Maybe a grounding issue?

Thanks!

p00t
04-06-2017, 06:51 PM
Turn the motor over by hand first. The car has been off so long something could be in the cylinders. Fuel. A mouse. Water. Cant compress any of those. OK the mouse can be compressed A LITTLE. But if his whole family is in there.... yikes.

If it turns over easy and the rodents are safe, replace the starter.

AtlxPat
04-06-2017, 09:53 PM
cables getting hot - bad ground. ohm out engine to battery negative and see if its properly grounded. close to 0 ohms is what youre shooting for
also if youre reading 11v at starter, your battery is dead