My 88 n/a doesnt seem to have enough juice to engage the starter. I can jump start it with my jeep. I had the guy at the auto parts store run some test on the car while sitting in the parking lot. It said everything bat, alt, start was ok. IMO the alternator may not be charging enough. Or the battery wont hold a charge. Right after shutting engine down it wont start. The guage the car when running shows it charging just one tick above 12v. When the car is not running it shows the same. If the starter is going bad will it need more juice to kick it over? What does a good running alternator show on the guage when charging?
starter, alternator, or battery issue
- Thread starter mikeoc1
- Start date
Sounds like your battery is bad. With the car running unhook the battery and see if it still runs.. If it does then your alternator is good.. Sounds like the battery to me though.
just test your alternator properly, i have seen it burn up ecu from pulling cables off the battery. have some one stand there with with a volt meter and then you crank it see where the voltage drops to blow 9v it needs a battery and the alt should be putting a solid 13 to 14v
Devin LeBlanc;1598052 said:
You sure about that? Try it on your car.
To the OP, dont do that^
A non-running car battery voltage should be aprox 12.6V
Running battery voltage should be aprox 14V
I noticed you mentioned the stock gauge reads the same voltage running or not. Use a dependable volt meter (like a fluke) and verify these two voltages.
Also, when your car doesnt start, do you hear a fairly loud "click" from the engine bay, when you turn the key to the start position?
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Devin LeBlanc;1598052 said:
Don't do this, or shop in places like Autozone where they tell you to do that. Well, you can buy Penzoil Platinum and other things there if you like.
The first thing you need to do is test the voltage running and stopped with a multimeter. Just for your own refrence. Then you can make sure everything is connected correctly and not loose. You need to load test the battery and alternator. Assuming you don't have a load tester, you can use a hydrometer in the battery. And since you can drive the car around all you want, the charging system probably works.
Unless you didn't provide all the information.
thanks for the response. Using my own multimeter. Battery after sitting 24hrs 11.2v wont start does click though. Jumped it, 14.1v running on its own. Drove for 15min shut off, does start back up. 12.1v with engine off. Will let it sit a while and check it again. Checked all connections negative terminal was questionable. Prev owner has some fancy shiny looking slip on type connector. got it on a little more snug.