car wont start :(
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 167
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From: Oxnard/San Luis Obispo CA
car wont start :(
I just replaced the starter and the carburetor, and last night I was tuning the carburetor and it was working fine. Tried to start it this morning and it turned over maybe once and started making a clicking sound. I figured the battery was just a little weak from starting and stopping the engine several times w/out giving it time to recharge. So, I tried to jump it and.... nothing. waited about 10 mins or so and still nothing. what the hell did i screw up?! Its possible that I somehow hooked up the new starter wrong and it was draining the battery all night, but i thought jumping it would be able to get it going in the short term. please help I cant think straight right now because I'm annoyed with the damn thing
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 8,837
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I just replaced the starter and the carburetor, and last night I was tuning the carburetor and it was working fine. Tried to start it this morning and it turned over maybe once and started making a clicking sound. I figured the battery was just a little weak from starting and stopping the engine several times w/out giving it time to recharge. So, I tried to jump it and.... nothing. waited about 10 mins or so and still nothing. what the hell did i screw up?! Its possible that I somehow hooked up the new starter wrong and it was draining the battery all night, but i thought jumping it would be able to get it going in the short term. please help I cant think straight right now because I'm annoyed with the damn thing
Clicking is usually weak battery. Charge it up, or have it tested. You could have screwed up the wiring, or left the dome light on, or did not tighten the cables tight, or disturbed a rotting cable. How old is the battery? I never seem to get past 5 years.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 26,545
Likes: 46
From: Huntersville NC
It did start ok at least once after you changed the starter? If yes (I think you indicated that it worked) then you probably wired the starter correctly. You might have a loose connection somewhere. I would doublecheck all the connections both + and - from the battery to the starter, then try again to jumpstart it and recharge the battery.
What kind of starter? It also wouldn't shock me (no pun intended) if your brand new starter worked once and then broke.
What kind of starter? It also wouldn't shock me (no pun intended) if your brand new starter worked once and then broke.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 8,837
Likes: 1,028
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 167
Likes: 0
From: Oxnard/San Luis Obispo CA
It did start ok at least once after you changed the starter? If yes (I think you indicated that it worked) then you probably wired the starter correctly. You might have a loose connection somewhere. I would doublecheck all the connections both + and - from the battery to the starter, then try again to jumpstart it and recharge the battery.
What kind of starter? It also wouldn't shock me (no pun intended) if your brand new starter worked once and then broke.
What kind of starter? It also wouldn't shock me (no pun intended) if your brand new starter worked once and then broke.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
Make sure your connections are tight and did you replace the solenoid also when you replaced the starter motor, for if you did not the solenoid could be bad (the copper ring inside could be burnt), and it would be a good idea to have your battery load checked (usually a free test) Good luck
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 26,545
Likes: 46
From: Huntersville NC
More than once (one time with my vette, a couple of weeks ago with my cousin's late model minivan) I have tried to jump start a car and it wouldn't work - battery wouldn't take a charge - and we found out the reason was a loose connection.
Just to give you an idea,
With my cousin's minivan we had the jumper cables on the battery terminals, let it run a while, but when we tried to start the car the starter would barely turn over. The battery cable was on the terminal but was not fully tight even tho the tightening screw was all the way screwed in. The short term (BUBBA with a capital "B") fix was to drive a screw in between the terminal and the battery cable bracket, to make a solid electrical contact. No, the screw did not get screwed into the battery, and we told my cousin to take it to a shop and get it fixed properly asap!
Just to give you an idea,
With my cousin's minivan we had the jumper cables on the battery terminals, let it run a while, but when we tried to start the car the starter would barely turn over. The battery cable was on the terminal but was not fully tight even tho the tightening screw was all the way screwed in. The short term (BUBBA with a capital "B") fix was to drive a screw in between the terminal and the battery cable bracket, to make a solid electrical contact. No, the screw did not get screwed into the battery, and we told my cousin to take it to a shop and get it fixed properly asap!
Last edited by PRNDL; Jan 14, 2007 at 03:03 PM.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 167
Likes: 0
From: Oxnard/San Luis Obispo CA
its in the low 50s out here. Colder than what I'm used to but not that cold. also, I was thinking i might have left the key in the "on" postion. Is it possible for the electric choke to have sucked all the juice out of the battery? (I dont have a stereo in the car right now so it wouldnt be drawing any current.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 8,837
Likes: 1,028
its in the low 50s out here. Colder than what I'm used to but not that cold. also, I was thinking i might have left the key in the "on" postion. Is it possible for the electric choke to have sucked all the juice out of the battery? (I dont have a stereo in the car right now so it wouldnt be drawing any current.
Choke circuit, blower circuit, gauge circuit, idiot lights, ign circuit, yeah!!!It's quite possible, especially since you ran it without charging it back up.
