wierd problem
 

i was running it, then started to clean some of the oil off the block and went to start it up again and it clicked then lost all power, not even the door dinger goes on. tested the batt and it's at 12.7V.


I'm really confused. why one time it starts and the other it doesn't.

did i toast the DME?

My guess is that you messed up the ground connections to the block while you were cleaning. I think that there are 2 connections in the back of the engine near or on the bell housing.

Could be that the ground cable has gotten brittle over time and broke, or went to a high resistance. Look around there and see if there's anything obvious. If not, it will might be a good idea to replace your ground cable and see if that helps.

Good luck,

Keith

sorry for not being more specfic. i was cleaning from the cam cover gasket that went. i mostly was on the head, and lower part of the engine.


thanks keith for the suggeston, i'll go check it out.

I checked the grounds all good.
I also checked the battery again 12.2V when i last tested it while running it was 13.7V. i think the alternater went bad. also because the battery was new.

what do you guys think?

OK, let's start simple:

Measure the battery voltage again, but this time put the negative lead from your volt-meter on the cam tower and the positive lead on the positive battery post. This will tell you if you have a bad/missing ENGINE ground.

Now measure the voltage at the starter WHILE CRANKING.

What readings did you get?

From what I,m getting, your battery reads 12.2V & you get nothing not even the interior light when you open the door?

Pull your fuel pump relay & check for volts from terminal 30 to ground. You should be better than 11V. If not check yoy battery connections.

First off all check your battery connection. Make sure it is frree off corrosion on the terminal, then check all your ground connection (Engine to body). From my experience I don't trush a new battery as well. I have seen them all , install battery from the self doesn't start the car. or battery blow up while starting a car (could be batt. have internal sort). Do a load test on the battery check the voltade off the battery while cranking. ideally for FI engine when it drop around 10 volt , your battery is OK. I find for FI engine drop to 10 volt will operate the injector, below that you have a change off not enough juicy to operate the injector. Carb car is diff as long as the batt turn the engine it will fire.
Good Luck

----------------------
Bud

ok everything checked out no corrosion, good grounds. the only thing i haven't done yet was put it up on stands to check the voltage at the starter. personally i think that either the alternator just took a dump, or a parasitic drain.

If you're gonna ask for help...
 

Did you measure the voltage between the engine and battery like I asked?

Hate to point to the simple things.

"It clicked then lost all power"

Have you checked the fuses yet? That click could of been a fuse poping. If all the fuses check out then you most likely have a bad ground. Check the battery with the positive lead to the battery and the neg, to the chassis and see what you get.

yeah it came out to be the same V's as when i when did it on the positive and negitave terimals on the battery.

fuses # 15, 9, and 6. but those already went when i was turning on some interior stuff. pior to this. and the click was not like the battery grounding because when i had that problem it would click acouple times. "and that stopped after i cleaned the termals, and retighten the clips" and what i'm confused about is one time it runs, then 15 minutes later it doesn't.

Sounds like a loose ground, or a bad ground cable.

Any napa store can make you a new one. Shouldn't be more then $20-$30

thanks

Quick EASY check... Take a booster cable connect one black end to the neg battery, the other black end to the hoist hook on the engine. Don't use the positive side of the cable. Now turn switch over, if it cranks, it is the ground cable from the chassis to the engine block.

The ground cable on the engine is near the engine reference sensors & heater valve at the rear of the engine.

mmh thanks. i'll try that in the morning.

btw never heard of the term booster cables... only thought they were called jumper cables.. learn something new everyday... :D

LOL, I have heard it both ways, and for some reason I tend to use both terms :)

Good Luck