Help! Electrical Issue, car won't start
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Help! Electrical Issue, car won't start
Got in the car (95 Cpe, w / mn6) the other night, interior lights came on, turned the key, the starter turned once and everything went dead. No lights anywhere, nothing. The door lock button will make noise, thats it. Hooked up jumper cables, interior lights came on, turned the key, everything went dead again. Came back next day, put in a new battery, car started right up. Let it run for 5 minutes or so, shut it down, fired right back up. Came back 10 minutes later, turned the key, starter clicked once and everything went dead again, same as before. Unhooked the battery cables, let it sit for an hour or so, hooked it up, still absolutely nothing except door locks will whine. When the battery is connected, there is a clicking noise from inside the passenger side dash, stops when you turn the key to run position. I am at a total loss, any ideas? Thanx in advance...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,130
Likes: 2
From: seattle WA
Are you sure you don't have a bad starter? try this, try starting-if just a click take a pipe reach down and rap the starter a couple times, if it now starts you know what the problem is. The ticking sound could be from the sentry light timer-just a thought.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 4
From: Austin Texas
with the key turned to run posiyion only, what does your dash voltmeter read with youe new Bat? when you try to crank, does the voltmeter take a dive below 11V ?? If you turn your headlights on, do they popup and illuminate?
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by MikeC4
with the key turned to run posiyion only, what does your dash voltmeter read with youe new Bat? when you try to crank, does the voltmeter take a dive below 11V ?? If you turn your headlights on, do they popup and illuminate?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
You have a second dead battery (battery voltage below 12.0 volts) because your leakage current is high enough to discharge the battery overnight. Remove the negative cable from the battery and charge your battery up. Then connect an ammeter between the negative cable and the negative post on the battery and wait for the courtesy lights to time out and then switch your ammeter down to lower full scale current to measure the leakage current. GM says leakage should not exceed 50 milliamps, my 87 measures 27 ma.
At night, connect battery and look for underhood lights on, vanity mirror lights on, console compartment lights on. Do you have a radar detector, aftermarket alarm or radio or audio power amplifier? Check em. Next pull the courtesy light fuse so you can keep the passenger door open and pull fuses one at a time and watch the ammeter for a drop in current. The fuse removal will locate the circuit drawing excess current. I'm not familiar with the 95, but there are about 8 circuits that use a fusible link and you need to disconnect those wires one at time if removing fuses doesn't find the leakage.
At night, connect battery and look for underhood lights on, vanity mirror lights on, console compartment lights on. Do you have a radar detector, aftermarket alarm or radio or audio power amplifier? Check em. Next pull the courtesy light fuse so you can keep the passenger door open and pull fuses one at a time and watch the ammeter for a drop in current. The fuse removal will locate the circuit drawing excess current. I'm not familiar with the 95, but there are about 8 circuits that use a fusible link and you need to disconnect those wires one at time if removing fuses doesn't find the leakage.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 4
From: Austin Texas
Originally Posted by jfb
You have a second dead battery (battery voltage below 12.0 volts) because your leakage current is high enough to discharge the battery overnight.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,564
Likes: 6
From: Woodstock Georgia
Originally Posted by MikeC4
read his post again. He let the car sit for 10 minutes, and the battery went kaput, not overnight. Small leakage current is one thing, but this sounds like a high currentt dead short.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,510
Likes: 4
From: Austin Texas
Originally Posted by aminnich
Could be, but then soemthing should have been burning. I would lean towards bad primary cable connections. Usually, but not always, it is the battery to ground connection.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
The first two starts on the new battery killed the battery and thats why it won't start the car. The evidence is the clicking relay which indicates too low a battery to even turn on the courtesy lights. Of course that might not be the cause and can be verified by measuring the battery voltage to determine the state of charge. 12.0 volts and below, discharged. 12.9 volts and above, fully charged. Also, measure the battery terminal voltage while attempting a crank, the battery should not fall below 9.0 volts or the battery is discharged, cable connections are poor, or the battery is at the end of its life (no matter what the age of the battery is). Another possibility if the cable connections are bright and tight, is a defective cable, that is, the connection of either cable wire to the battery lug on the cable. Furthermore, I would check the quality of the battery ground wire connection to the frame. Also, check the quality of the connection from the battery positive to the ignition switch, it may have a defective fusible link.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,753
Likes: 9
From: Louisiana
You might have a ground problem also. Try removing the ground from the battery where it connects to the frame and clean it with a wire brush and make sure it is bolted on tight. I had a problem like yours and the negative cable had rattled lose from the frame. Let us know what the problem is once you figure it out.