Car Not Starting

[SupraTrbo89]

I have an 89 Supra Turbo 5 speed and after not driving the car all winter I got and tried to start it. It cranked over 5 or six times (probably a crank or 2 away from starting) and then the battery finally went dead. I recharged it and went to start the car and it just clicked. I have interior lights but after trying to start the car they fade almost like the battery is still dead. I pulled a fresh battery I know works and is charged from my daily driver and the same exact thing happens. It just clicks and then the interior lights and dash lights start to go dim. I recently cleaned all the terminals and connections. Could it possibly be the ground to the fender?

Also, on a side note I used a trickle charger to charge the original battery and at first I still had the battery connected to the car when I began to charge it and quickly realized I should probably disconnect the battery while doing this. I am wondering if that could have blown a fuse.

 

[BryanDyer]

Well if you wonder if it could have blown a fuse then check for a blown fuse first.

 

[Boosted MK3]

I always charge a battery with it still connected so I don't think it would be a blown fuse. If I had to take a guess I would say starter. Mine did the same thing when it went.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Yea I think it may be the starter also because I had the same situation with my Acura TL. The only difference though is that all my interior/dash lights were still real bright in my Acura when I tried turning the key. In this case with the Supra the interior and dash lights go real dim which makes no sense if the battery has a full charge.

I was doing some research and came across the "starter relay mod". I don't fully understand it and need to read about it further, but this seems to be a common issue with starting.

I may just get a starter from Autozone and try it. If I put in and it doesn't start up I could just clean it off and return it.

 

[supraguy@aol]

First, check that the battery terminals are very clean.
If they are oxidized on the contact face, they will have a very small electrical contact area, and when you go to start, it will short under the high amperage.

PS- Auto parts stores are sometimes sketchy about allowing the return of electrical parts.

 

[SupraTrbo89]

Apologies for the late follow up to the thread. So I got the car running again and I believe the problem was oxidation where the battery cable connects to the starter. I unbolted the cable at the starter and sanded the loop as well as the area on the actual starter (both looked bad). I re connected and the car fired right up.

One test I found on youtube through "Eric the Car Guy" was to use a multimeter and put one end of the tester on the negative battery terminal and the other end to the cable where it connects to the starter to see if you are getting power to that point (car turned to the On position). I was unable to get a reading on my multimeter, but I knew the cable was getting power as I accidentally touched it to another piece of metal and got sparks. When I was trying this test I had the cable unbolted from the starter. Does it still have to be bolted to the starter for the multimeter to show a reading?

 

[supraguy@aol]

Um. I've never had my negative cable bolted to the starter. The positive cable goes there.
Eric the car guy does put out some good tips and info. And +1 to me for guessing correctly(sorta).

 

[SupraTrbo89]

What I meant was using the multimeter -- put one probe (or whatever they are called) from the multimeter to the negative battery terminal and the other probe to the positive cable where it connects to the starter. I wasn't able to get a reading doing this even though I was getting power to the starter.

I am just happy I don't have to unbolt the starter, looks like getting to the 2nd bolt is a huge pain in the ass...thanks again for the help

 

[supraguy@aol]

Yeah- That would mean that either a cable was bad or one of the contact points of the cable.

And oh yes- The starter is one of the top 3 PITA projects with a Supra.

 

[Suprapowaz!(2)]

Thank you for following up, and posting your findings. Even if it was a simple fix it will help many others when they search, "Car not starting".