Car died, now won't start. no power... please help

[Moy]

Hey there everyone, I am in need of some help.

(So you are aware of the conditions this all occurred in, it is currently raining outside.)

Tonight, my car died on me on the way back from seeing the new FnF movie. I was sitting, stopped, at a railroad crossing, when first my CD stopped playing, then my radio or the alarm or whatever it is made the beeping sound at me (like it does when I turn my car off). My lights got really dim, then my car shut off.

I try to restart my car, it acts like the TDS is cutting power to the starter. My check engine light turns on.

I was able to get a jump from a guy driving by (lucky me at 2 am). We hooked our batteries up via jumper cables, and I am able to start my car. Disconnect the jumper cables and try to get going.... it dies again.

Had to wake up my folks to get them to come out to where I was; we jumped the car again, this time I let the batteries connected long enough to get me back to my house. Being the idiot I am, I turned on my high beams, and the car dies again, check engine light pops back on.

I currently have the car drying off in the garage.

I have a few ideas of what could have caused this:
A) moisture messed up a connect
B) a short to ground somewhere
C) bad alternator
D) wires from alternator to battery are bad

Please, if anyone can chime in, please, PLEASE help me get my Supra, my daily driver, back on the road.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

[pimptrizkit]

sounds like your alt died.

your able to get it to re-fire.
checks off
-timing belt.
-main fuseable link
-cps wiring
-fuel pump


reason's i belive your alt is bad.
-your battery will hold charge long enough to start the car and drive some time.
- as the battery died, system started shutting down that needed 12v's. and the car being the last since the injectors should five with 9v's.
- you saw the new fnf movie.



i would reccomend replacing the alt, and batteir and making sure your connections are clean and tight. on batteir terminals, cables and grounds.
if the copper looks tarnished and isn't shiny you need to clean it and put it back together.
it should not have any mold looking substance on your terminals or battery connections.

[pogoism9]

take the alt off and run it to advance or autozone, they can test it for you.

[AJ'S 88NA]

take the alt off and run it to advance or autozone, they can test it for you.

Take the battery too, a couple of dead cells it won't hold a charge, that's what it sounds like to me more so than the alternator.

[pogoism9]

if the car has a good alt, chances are you can jump it and keep it running.

[Moy]

It has a new battery with less than 1000 miles on it, both terminals are clean.

Sorta wouldn't doubt the alternator, it has 234K miles on it. I'll take it to autozone today to see what they say about it

[Moy]

Okay short update: I have my car sitting on a battery charger right now.

I tried pulling codes. All I got was code 12: RPM Signal. TSRM states:
Diagnosis: no "NE" or "G" signal to ECU within 2 seconds after engine has been cranked
Trouble area:
- Distributor circuit
- Distributor
- Starter signal circuit
- ECU

I'm almost 100% positive it is not the starter or ecu.

I was able to start the car, but it would stumble and die: immediately after the engine would crank over, RPMs would fall to 500, then it would die. If I open the throttle a little bit when it gets to 500, it revs up, but also there is a HEAVY smell of gasoline.

I checked underneath the car for gasoline, there is none. I smelt around the engine bay, especially the CSI and fuel rail, there is no smell of gasoline at all.

[pogoism9]

if the car doesnt have power, there is on telling how well any subsystems will work

[Moy]

if the car doesnt have power, there is on telling how well any subsystems will work

I've had the car sitting on a car battery charger, there's a constant 12V source right now

[pimptrizkit]

does your tack move at all if you crank and no start? if so your cps wire's are working as should, if not then, gently wiggle the cps wire's and try to start the vehicle again while on the charger

this stumble die is not related to your powered down shut off.

[Moy]

does your tack move at all if you crank and no start? if so your cps wire's are working as should, if not then, gently wiggle the cps wire's and try to start the vehicle again while on the charger

this stumble die is not related to your powered down shut off.

No Cam Position Sensor, my car is non-turbo, I use a distributor.

About 20 minutes after my last post, I started the car while it was on the charger, and, in park, it idled at around 900 like it normally does. I revved it up and abruptly let off the gas, the revs fell to 900. It seems like whatever problem I had, the ECU may have corrected it?

I've had my car off of the charger for about 10 hours now, I disconnected it at about 1:40 PM, it is now 10:48 PM. I opened my door when I got home from work about 10 minutes ago, and all lights were on full power, telling me that I do not have a drain on my battery.

I believe that my alternator may be dead. Reason being: yesterday I drove close to 200 miles, there is no reason why my battery should have died if the alternator was doing it's job properly.

For the past week, I've been hearing a whirring sound coming from my engine bay, and it would get louder as the revs got higher, but I couldn't hear it over 2000 rpms. In the TSRM on page CH-4, it says to check to make sure that there are no abnormal sounds coming from the alternator while the engine is running. When I revved my engine earlier, I didn't hear the sound anymore. The stopping of the sound seems to correlate with the dying of my car.

Is it just coincidence, or could I be right about this? I realize the only true way to know is to test the alternator, but I haven't had the time yet.

[Supra90gr]

No Cam Position Sensor, my car is non-turbo, I use a distributor.

About 20 minutes after my last post, I started the car while it was on the charger, and, in park, it idled at around 900 like it normally does. I revved it up and abruptly let off the gas, the revs fell to 900. It seems like whatever problem I had, the ECU may have corrected it?

I've had my car off of the charger for about 10 hours now, I disconnected it at about 1:40 PM, it is now 10:48 PM. I opened my door when I got home from work about 10 minutes ago, and all lights were on full power, telling me that I do not have a drain on my battery.

I believe that my alternator may be dead. Reason being: yesterday I drove close to 200 miles, there is no reason why my battery should have died if the alternator was doing it's job properly.

For the past week, I've been hearing a whirring sound coming from my engine bay, and it would get louder as the revs got higher, but I couldn't hear it over 2000 rpms. In the TSRM on page CH-4, it says to check to make sure that there are no abnormal sounds coming from the alternator while the engine is running. When I revved my engine earlier, I didn't hear the sound anymore. The stopping of the sound seems to correlate with the dying of my car.

Is it just coincidence, or could I be right about this? I realize the only true way to know is to test the alternator, but I haven't had the time yet.

If your alternator is dead the battery light would come on while you are driving. Test the alternator, thats your best bet right now.

[Moy]

If your alternator is dead the battery light would come on while you are driving. Test the alternator, thats your best bet right now.

Yeah... my battery light doesn't even come on now. I turn the key to the on position and all lights turn on except for the battery drain light. I checked the fuse and it's still good, haven't checked the light or connections because that's all behind the cluster...

I ran my car again for a while today, it seems to be running rich. Without a wideband I can't tell for sure, but there is more exhaust smoke than usual and it smelled heavy on gas.

So many things wrong with this damned car... :cry:

[AJ'S 88NA]

Have you cleared your codes and checked them again?

[suprarx7nut]

Dude... Go get it tested. Until you do that none of these other problems mean shit

Don't waste your time and get it tested before worrying about electrical issues.

[Moy]

Okay well I was able to get my alternator off, it took almost 30 minutes because of corroded bolts. I got it tested and it failed, so everyone was right about it taking a shit on me. I have an alternator being dropped off tonight by a friend of mine, I'll get that one tested and pray to god it is usable.

A re-manufactured alternator from Autozone would be 112 plus a 50 core charge. Brand new from Toyota (for shits and giggles) is 155 plus tax and exchange :aigo:. There is one sitting in a warehouse in California right now. After that it's a 2 week wait special order from Japan.

[benchwarmer]

I have a spare alternator in great shape sitting in my garage. PM if you want it, I'll let you have it cheap.

[Moy]

Thanks bro but I have a few guys around here that have some for me.