help! other forums had failed me!

[abdow]

all other forums failed me! let me try this forum
i replaced my alternator and the car isnt working. so here is the original problem. couple weeks back i started the car and drove off. right of the bat the radio started turn on and off same for the dome light anyways a minute later the rpm dropped and i couldnt give it gas the car shut off so i pulled over and asked someone to give me a jump. so i brought the car back and it wouldnt start. it would make this weird sound and the dome light would turn off and not turn on back so i would have to wait couple seconds and sometimes up to a minute and when i try to crank it again it would make that weird sound and do everything again. so i replaced my batter and i also replaced my alternator. now the car doesnt turn on but the radio and the dome light does. so when i try to crank the car it makes a weird sound and sometimes the radio and light stay on and sometimes it doesnt. what do you think is the problem?

here are two videos i made today http://abdow.com/light.mp4
http://abdow.com/sound.mp4

[Frank_Jaeger]

Is the weird sound a kind of buzzing? Can't watch the videos right now. It might be a relay.

[abdow]

yes but the lights in the inside come on.

[vas570sx]

check connections at your battery as well as the wiring going to your starter. It really sounds like a lose connection.

[abdow]

i didnt touch the starter at all. but i will check the wires that go to it. the wires connecting to the battery are working because the light and radio works

[Frank_Jaeger]

Check your alternator ground. That's something people on here often recommend. Check your fuses too! Like your alt fuse.

[vas570sx]

Originally Posted by Frank_Jaeger

Is the weird sound a kind of buzzing? Can't watch the videos right now. It might be a relay.

Originally Posted by abdow

yes but the lights in the inside come on.

Ive had this same problem and it was a lose connection at the battery. I take it considering that you replaced the battery that those connections are tight and the terminals are connected properly to the wires, right? if so, check wiring to the starter and alternator.

[vas570sx]

Originally Posted by abdow

i didnt touch the starter at all. but i will check the wires that go to it. the wires connecting to the battery are working because the light and radio works

the amperage draw for a light and radio are much smaller than that required to start the engine.

[Frank_Jaeger]

Originally Posted by vas570sx

Ive had this same problem and it was a lose connection at the battery. I take it considering that you replaced the battery that those connections are tight and the terminals are connected properly to the wires, right? if so, check wiring to the starter and alternator.

Make sure your terminals aren't corroded either. They make brushes to clean them if need be.

[Darren]

Check your grounds, especially the one that grounds your battery


edit: got beat to the punch :P

[abdow]

i just checked the battery wire looks ok. and watch the video its weird. which wire on the alternator is ground? there are 3 wires and the second one has a rubber on it and the one on the back is that the ground and should it be touching the alternator or should there be a plastic washer then the wire then the screw?

[abdow]

come on zilvia dont fail me like the others have!

[Prozac]

If the battery is fully charged and good , then its gotta be a bad connection use some sand paper and clean off the inside of the terminal connector. Get a charger/booster and see what it does with it connected.

[KiLLeR2001]

Originally Posted by abdow

i just checked the battery wire looks ok. and watch the video its weird. which wire on the alternator is ground? there are 3 wires and the second one has a rubber on it and the one on the back is that the ground and should it be touching the alternator or should there be a plastic washer then the wire then the screw?

For the alternator there is 4 wires.

- The harness plug has two wires. You simply plug that in.
- The thick 10AWG wire is the alternator positive 12V wire to the (+) terminal on the battery. This has a rubber boot around it.
- The black wire is a ground wire from the car's body chassis to the back of the alternator. This is metal to metal contact.

[Chaluska]

the other forums failed you so you came to Zilvia?

oh man

[abdow]

well i usually visit local websites. everyone thanks i got it to work.

[Kenzo]

Originally Posted by Chaluska

the other forums failed you so you came to Zilvia?

oh man

I'm just amazed his topic was so well received.

[SX APPEAL]

What wound up being the problem? Or did it just fix itself (they tend to do that, quite annoying)

Just watched your videos, so if the problem does reappear, your positive battery terminal is pretty corroded, that's not helping anything. Definitely clean the contact surfaces up with a wire brush or some sandpaper. Your problem is that you're not getting enough amperage from the battery to the starter to crank the engine over. You're getting a little bit of power, enough to run the radio and lights and stuff, but they all go dead when you try to start it because the starter is pulling everything you've got, and its not enough. There has to be a problem with you main positive batter cable from the battery to the starter, maybe its not in the connections themselves but possibly a breakage or some corrosion somewhere in the cable itself. Or another possibility is that the starter itself is bad, this could also cause a major amp draw and still have the car not start. Pull it out and have it tested, they test them for free at most auto parts stores.

[abdow]

Originally Posted by SX APPEAL

What wound up being the problem? Or did it just fix itself (they tend to do that, quite annoying)

Just watched your videos, so if the problem does reappear, your positive battery terminal is pretty corroded, that's not helping anything. Definitely clean the contact surfaces up with a wire brush or some sandpaper. Your problem is that you're not getting enough amperage from the battery to the starter to crank the engine over. You're getting a little bit of power, enough to run the radio and lights and stuff, but they all go dead when you try to start it because the starter is pulling everything you've got, and its not enough. There has to be a problem with you main positive batter cable from the battery to the starter, maybe its not in the connections themselves but possibly a breakage or some corrosion somewhere in the cable itself. Or another possibility is that the starter itself is bad, this could also cause a major amp draw and still have the car not start. Pull it out and have it tested, they test them for free at most auto parts stores.

thanks i already fixed it. the problem was that.. and i had to hook 2 other cars to my car and boom it started.