Electrical issues, car wont start

nutless_neo · 09-15-2013, 07:59 AM

I'm having a ery confusing time with my car right now. To begin, when my ignition switch quit working, I ended hot wiring my car for a about a month to be able to drive it. Then one day I bumped the front end when it was raining and the headlights wouldn't go down all the way. After a while, my car started having trouble starting and eventually wouldn't start at all unless i got a boost from someone. The headlights seemed to be draining the battery because the y wouldn't go down all the way and the motor seemed to still be running - even with the car off? If that's even possible.

Well, I replaced the battery, the alternator, the ignition switch and key tumble and the starter tested fine. I even replaced the ignition coil and starter relay.

The problem now is the car wont' start unless I jump it, the battery is dead and won't hold a charge. After I get it started from a jump off another car, I can put it in reverse but when I drive it in first gear, it dies and the battery is dead. There is no clicking, no sound at all.

I was told that it could be the DME relay. I tested my DME relay yesterday and it seems there is no current going from the battery terminal to the fuel pump terminal - if there is even supposed to be a current. The other terminals seemed to test fine.

I haven't re-installed the headlights yet, I didn't think having them installed would make a difference on whether the car would start or not.

I am really at a loss here. Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?

mattdavis11 · 09-15-2013, 08:37 AM

What year is it?

nutless_neo · 09-15-2013, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

What year is it?

Its an 84, dont know if it's an early or late model 84. Whats the easiest way to find out?

guru944 · guru944's Garage

Nutless_neo

Sounds like floating grounds aka ground loops...
Use a digital volt meter to verify good from neg(-) battery termainal.

Later..

Ky914Newbie · 09-17-2013, 05:28 AM

First step with wonky electrical problems is to check and clean your grounds. Here is a good post about that:

How many ground lugs in the interior? - Rennlist Discussion Forums

Also, jump starting the car is not recommended as it can cause the DME computer to have problems. I am worried about the condition of your DME. Once you have the battery and potential ground issues resolved, make sure you are getting a good charge from the alternator. At that point, you should have good spark, fuel, air and it should start.

If you still don't start at that point, it would be good to find someone to swap the DME computer with to see if it will start then.

Good Luck.

Michael

mattdavis11 · 09-17-2013, 06:28 AM

On the early car, positive terminal at the battery, there are 3 small leads along with the starter lead. I would take a good look at them to see if they are corroded. Also clean the grounds.

nutless_neo · 09-17-2013, 10:27 AM

Thank you for the suggestions. I am going to have to battery tested and/or replaced today since it's still under warranty. I'm also going to put the head lights back in, just to make sure everything is connected. The ground wires from the battery are pretty solid but I will go through all the wiring and make sure that its all secure and tight. I would almost have to say that it's either the DME relay or something related since this issue only occurred after hotwiring the car for over a month just to get it started, so I'm thinking I fried something.

I'm also taking this time to clean out the engine bay.

Another issue came up when taking the power steering pump reservoir off and one of the hoses is cracked and needs to be replaced. Is this something that is sold separately? It looks to be a sealed hose. I tried cutting the bad part off, but putting it back on the reservoir just made the split worse.
Any suggestions?

nutless_neo · 09-21-2013, 09:14 PM

my alternator isn't charging the battery and I can't figure out why. The alternator is new and tested 100% working. The battery is also new. I checked all the wiring and relays and don't see anything out of place or broken. I tightened up all the grounds and the starter tested 100%. I have a DME relay coming in the mail. Someone thought it might be the headlight relay since the lights were getting hung up but even with the headlight motor disconnected, the battery just drains slowly when the car is running and the meter reading is the same at the alternator as it is at the battery when the car is running.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm clueless at this point.

Thanks

tamathumper · 09-22-2013, 05:04 AM

To clarify, when some of the previous posters have mentioned that jump starting is not advised and could damage the "DME", they do not mean the DME relay, but rather the entire computer setup in the passenger footwell. It sounds like you've had some uncommon electrical conditions, including hot wiring, and it's hard to say how the computer might have handled those conditions.

To answer your question about the power steering hose, I believe the parts are available but expensive, especially depending on which hose it is. A search here or at Clark's Garage will give you everything you need to know about replacing your power steering hoses in kind, or by cutting off the ends at the hard lines and fashioning suitable replacements.

To get to your issue with the alternator, when you say it is not charging the battery is it not putting out any power at all, or is it putting out too low of a voltage to charge the battery? Have you tested what the alternator is outputting? It may have been damaged with the jump starts, or it may have overheated trying to act as a battery charger on dead batteries for too long.

To address your issue of something draining the battery, you can test for draw on all the circuits, starting with the ones you suspect first. Or, you could remove the fuses for those circuits and see if the battery charge stop dropping.

nutless_neo · 09-22-2013, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamathumper

To clarify, when some of the previous posters have mentioned that jump starting is not advised and could damage the "DME", they do not mean the DME relay, but rather the entire computer setup in the passenger footwell. It sounds like you've had some uncommon electrical conditions, including hot wiring, and it's hard to say how the computer might have handled those conditions.

To answer your question about the power steering hose, I believe the parts are available but expensive, especially depending on which hose it is. A search here or at Clark's Garage will give you everything you need to know about replacing your power steering hoses in kind, or by cutting off the ends at the hard lines and fashioning suitable replacements.

To get to your issue with the alternator, when you say it is not charging the battery is it not putting out any power at all, or is it putting out too low of a voltage to charge the battery? Have you tested what the alternator is outputting? It may have been damaged with the jump starts, or it may have overheated trying to act as a battery charger on dead batteries for too long.

To address your issue of something draining the battery, you can test for draw on all the circuits, starting with the ones you suspect first. Or, you could remove the fuses for those circuits and see if the battery charge stop dropping.

I haven't jumped this new battery or alternator off from another car. I've only had a trickle charger on it and that was with everything disconnected from the battery. The alternator was tested and it showed to be working at 100%. If it is the computer than yeah that's going to be a big problem for me right now. I've got to sell this car this weekend so I can pay the rent.

I got the power steering problem fixed.

zedsn · 09-22-2013, 02:39 PM

I have a computer for your car that was working when removed years ago if you decide that you need one and your computer is on the drivers side on the early cars not the passenger side. I am not sure why your car would be draining your battery but alternators have been known to still be working and drain the battery. I believe it is a diode problem if my memory serves me right. Your lights are another odd problem and would have to see some photos before I could make a guess. You will need to get a volt meter and take out a fuse at a time and see if the drain stops from the battery and go from there.

nutless_neo · 09-22-2013, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zedsn

I have a computer for your car that was working when removed years ago if you decide that you need one and your computer is on the drivers side on the early cars not the passenger side. I am not sure why your car would be draining your battery but alternators have been known to still be working and drain the battery. I believe it is a diode problem if my memory serves me right. Your lights are another odd problem and would have to see some photos before I could make a guess. You will need to get a volt meter and take out a fuse at a time and see if the drain stops from the battery and go from there.

How much would you want for it? I'm going to see if I can find one at a junkyard tomorrow. Mine is on the driver side. I just tried taking fuses out one at a time but I could only get so far until the battery ran out of juice. At this point its time for drastic measures, so i'll just replace the computer.

When you say the alternator could be working but still draining the battery, would it still test at putting out 14 volts on the machine at Autozone?