[Char]

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[Pr0nSt4r]

grounds, definatley sounds like a bad ground

EDIT : you might have killed your starter attempting to crank it with bad grounds?

I would reccomend checking your grounds then bench testing your starter and see if the ring gear engages.

 

[Char]

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[Cliff]

I've got an idea.

Remove all audio accessory components (the amp) and jump start the car. Let it sit and run for a little while. If the battery is dead/low, check it with a multimeter to determine if it's being charged by the alternator (should be somewhere around 14~14.5VDC.) If not, check your wiring. Your alternator may be bad. If it charges, then you have a grounding issue with your audio accessories.

 

[Pr0nSt4r]

best way would be to switch the multimeter to check for continuity then check for continuity between the wire connection at the battery post to the bolt or wherever its grounded. i had the same trouble when i relocated my battery, i put it back in the front because there was a nasty parasitic draw coming form the ground.

and if you dont have a booster pack then hook jumper cables up to your battery then to your starter, if you do it right the starter will jump a tiny bit and the ring gear will spin and engage outward.

 

[Char]

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[Cliff]

I knew it was lower then it needed to be while running, but not by much so I didnt mind. Read my post again.. the battery is fine. Even if it Did die, its a fu*king Yellow Top. Those things almost never die, mostly brand new. Hell, Ive seen one drive a 4L Charakee with no alt for 20 minutes, not have enough juice to start it again till they let it sit for 10 minutes.. started right up no problem.

I will check all the grounds tomorrow morning. I'll also pull the starter and see if it works or not.

If it does work... what could stop it from turning over, just a ground? If so even that sounds possible. It could have started all those times till it just came loose enough from all my driving.

Edit: I just remembered when I bought the car I checked over everything I could... the alt was charging at high 13s then too, so its been like this the whole time even on the crap corroding battery that has been in there since I bought it two years ago.

Let me rephrase myself for you. It's not a LIQUID cell battery, therefore it CANNOT die. It's a dry/gel cell battery. It will recharge indefinitely. I stated dead as in the alternator isn't recharging the battery. Which is why I told you to double check your voltages from the alternator to the battery to ensure that it's charging. If you're not seeing 14.xVDC while the vehicle is on, and with A/C running or any other accessory, then your alternator cannot keep up with the current draw, or it just doesn't work worth a damn.

 

[Char]

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[Cliff]

Actually nothing was on when I did that, I even turned off the head unit completely. Tomorrow morning I will check it... but like I said, even with the crap battery that was in the car when I bought it, it run two years just fine. The only difference now being the amp and subs, but its also on a yellow top now too.

Okay, well with all accessories off, your car is reporting voltages correctly at around 13.xVDC. The big question, though, is whether the alternator kicks in to compensate for the voltage drop when you turn on your accessories. I really would suspect that you have a ground issue with your amp, that is siphoning power from your battery. Do you get shocked at all while getting in or out of the vehicle? Static discharge? Definitely a sign of bad grounds somewhere in the chassis. Make sure that you're not grounding your accessories to the same point you're grounding your battery to, either. I know some say it doesn't matter, but in my experiences, it's never wise to ground multiple items to the same ground. (This of course doesn't apply to grounding components in the engine bay to the chassis, as they're all directly connected to eachother, anyway)

Hope this helped at least a little bit. If you still have issues, I'd be glad to throw a few more options at you.

 

[Char]

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[Cliff]

I made sure not to ground anything to the same point. And.. Ive Always been shocked getting out of my car. Even my friends 200SX SE I get shocked getting out of.. I think even his Spec I did. lol I just figured it was me or something. Now I will definitely make sure to check all the grounds. I will also see about sanding the ones for the amp and battery.

Part of it could have to do with your shoes, or fabric softener. But more often than not, it has to do with items grounded to chassis. Before I put a system in my SE, I never got shocked. Once the amp and driver went in, I started getting shocked all the time. Found out that the grounding location for my amp wasn't the best.

 

[Char]

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[Char]

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[Cliff]

I would venture to think that your starter cable could be loose? I know mine was (the clip broke off mysteriously). And yes, if you have a bad ground to chassis for the starter, you could very well fry it due to voltage spike.

Good luck

 

[squirlz]

Reading on how your battery was grounded to a seatbelt bolt and the paint not scraped off is a bad sign. You want to make sure that every ground is to a thick chasis ground, paint scraped off, and use a nut and bolt so that it can not loosen. Also put a dab of spray paint on the grounds to prevent them from rusting. I usually update all grounds and charging system wires when i plan on adding a lot of accesories. before changing the starter try putting a ground right on the starter motor itself. Then see if the voltages go up or not and if you get a good start.

Not having a good ground on your starter could prematurley ware it out. It will cause exesive current that it should not see and you could aslo get some arching and sparking.

With the car off you should see around 12-13V's and with the car running you should see atleast 14v's as Tekkie stated.

 

[Char]

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[SuperblackZ]

may not be relevant, but have you tried starting the car by jumping it from another running car, voltage + amps = juice

V may be a little low, >14 would be healthier, besides ground suspect alternator may be under-performing, check belt, too

do you have unorthodox or similar pulleys?

not convinced the starter is dead - sounds very much more like bled the current down and it's not getting enough to kick over the starter

mine is in the trunk and it's just a diehard or something similar, nothing fancy and has worked fine for several years

 

[lazyieg]

Im checking the continuity between the bare chassis (where I sanded) and the negative terminal on the battery.. What exactly am I looking for? It starts somewhere around 15 and in a second drops to 6 and keeps dropping till if I hold it long enough goes to 0.0.

did you try this with the bolt on the seatbelt? did you get the same readings? my guess would be the seatbelt ground. i know when i relocate my battery i'm going to make my own ground.

 

[Char]

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[Dan9]

keep us posted. I just relocated (well, almost done) my battery like that - minus the mega sound stuff - and should be cranking it over tomorrow.

I didnt think to redo the stock motor to chassis ground- I ought to, cause it looks nasty, but I want to see if I have any problems first (if it aint broke dont fix it??)