Starting issues :-(

[Jan Larsson]

Washed my TTA last week (about 5 days ago) and as I have had my TTA sitting for a while my battery was week but started fine so I pulled it out washed it and put it back then took the battery out and charged it full over night and put it back in the car the day after but did not attempt to start it then.

The other day (Friday so car only been sitting for 3 days after charching the battery) I tried starting it and all electrical worked, fuel pump came on like usual and then the starter just move and clicked (never had any problem with my light weigh started I installed about 2 1/2" years ago) and all power died at the same time .... then about 1 minute later I had all power back and attempted starting it again and you guessed it same thing again on click on the starter (sounds like it get's stuck without turning) and lost all power again .... power back in about 1 min or so.

The VATS system do have a power cut to the starter for about 2 min but this only cuts the starter relay and not all power in the car so something else is weird .. never had this problem before and I know all my connections are good everywhere.

Any suggestions? Battery? Starter (again)?

[phillyturbosix]

Looks like you'll have to do some trouble shooting but in this order I would check..

- Starter (try tapping it with a hammer a few times and see if it kicks over)
- Fuseable link
- Battery
- Water in or on something?

Good luck Jan let us know how you make out. I would bet 80% it's the starter.

[Jan Larsson]

I suspect the starter as well only thing that did suprise me was the fact I totaly lost all power for close to a minute.

I'll do some trouble shooting tomorrow if I have time, so should I tap on the starter or the solenoid?

[phillyturbosix]

Sometimes when they are bad or going bad the stator heats up so much one crank of the key kills it. Then it will loosen up after it cools down. I had a old Pontiac when I was a kid and the starter was going bad. For almost 2 weeks I wacked the starter with a hammer. People would get in the car and ask why a hammer was laying on my passenger side floor I was so busy didn't have the time to do it.
You'll want to tap the starter it's self. Not the solnoid that will crack. Like directly under the car just give it a few good wacks with the hammer in the middle of the housing. As mine got worse I really had to nail it. Give it a try can't hurt

[bkoons]

I would suspect a bad battery or that the charge drained somehow. Have you tried jumping the car to start? Measure the static voltage and then again while cranking. I think it should be around 12.8V static and if it drops down to nil while cranking this is your problem..

[Fordlitenin]

For my two cents worth on mine when I would go to make a turn to the left I would loose all power for about a second or two. During this time the engine would die, the lights go out, and so forth. You could restart it right after that and it would be ok till some time later when I would turn. When I finally traced the problem down it was the wire from the battery to the alternator and it was grounding out on the pitman arm. It evidently had been rubbing it since new and finally wore through the cover on the wire and was grounding out. I replaced the wire and have not had a problem since.
You could have this same thing since mine did the same as yours but it would restart.

[jdsgnx]

had the exact same problem

remove battery check and clean termanils and battery bolts

spray with W/D 40 before installing

make sure battery is OK if more then 3 years old "I" would replace

hope this helps JD

[Razor]

Sounds like bad battery.

Easy test, turn you headlamps on. Now start the car. The lights should barely dim IF the battery is in good shape.

[Jan Larsson]

SO charged the battery again (it's a 2 years old AC Delco), cleaned all terminals and put on a slight film of dielectric grease, and it started without any problems. Turned it on and off a couple of times and seems to work fine, guess the terminals just needed a bit of a clean after sitting

Thanks for all the help guys!

[phillyturbosix]

Good stuff Jan! At least it was'nt the expensive route!!