jimmit

Hey guys I got a big problem here. I was about to go to school to buy some buy some books for tomm and I Was putting on my shoes and I pressed start on my remote starter. I heard the motor trying to start but it sounded like when you turn the key little bit and dont let the engine turn over. I was like ok great what happened so I go out and try to turn the car on with the key and nothing. I tried to turn the headlights and nothing. I pressed the lock button and nothing. I tried to take the battery harness off but I saw some sparks and stuff but before I decided to take the battery off I decided to post here to see if any could help. I really need to get to school and I have class tommorow I cant miss. If anyone can please help it would be great. This is my only car and I have no other way of tranportation. Thanx in advance.

Oh yea I drioe it this morning and it worked fine.

One more detail. Theres a little eye on the battery and under it it says a green eye means its ok to check the battery and a dark eye means it needs to be charged before checking. Right now its got a black spot which means a dark eye I guess.

fordracing

Well sparks a flying means you probably grounded something out, As for the green eye probably means you bought a DIe HArd battery or something, Check the fuses see if maybe the starter remote shorted out a fuse. so now it is running and driving but the remote starter doesn't work anymore or just a freaky day? Well start with the fuses I know when I hooked up the battery on the Soarer it blew the 120 amp fuse because some jerk has put in a custom stereo and did not connect the main fuse under the hood for it and it was grounding out. 15 Euro dollar's for that 120 amp fuse block pain in the but to get to. Check for loose wires that may be grounding out or something bare wire like. AS for it not starting when the other morning maybe time to regap or change the plugs or check the distributor and rotor for wear ? Tune it up it could just be a fluke though who knows.

jimmit

Thanx for the reply. I checked the Fused first and didnt really get a chance to check them all but the ones I check all seem fine. I have an AC Declso battery and I have that round eye thing. I guess the best thing to do is maybe charge the battery or maybe change it? The remote works fine. I checked the connector for the battery and there was some white crap on it which I have no idea what it is. I tried to take the connectors off and the car came back to life but would only start with the remote. I turned the car back off and tried to turn it on with the key and it wouldnt even crank. I put the socket wrench back up to the nut and tried to take it out again and the car came back to life again and I tried to turn the car on with the key and it didnt crank. Then I realized its probably the white crap on the connectors so I tried to take the connector off to sand off the white stuff but I couldnt get it off and didnt have enough time to spend trying to get it off. How am I supposed to even get that nut off? A wrench wont fit there a socket wrench wont go deep enough to grap a hold of the whole nut to get off. I decided to just hit it a lil bit and I saw that white stuff chipping off and then I tried to start it with the key and it worked. I'm guessing I probably first need to get that white stuff off but to do that I need to take the connectors off which I cant do.
Does anyone know if I need a new battery or if I need to charge this one or what?
I did get a tune up at the dealership at about 70K miles. Its been running great except of the power steering pump which went out at about 85K. Other than that no major problems.

LexFather

It should be the battery. My pops starter went out after 203k (got fixed today)miles, I doubt it's the starter.

awj

I had to rebuild a starter at 95,000 miles shortly after buying my old baby. Easy enough. Just trying to figure out how to get the starter from the engine bay and the top bolt was a little tricky. After the first time, I could do it in 10 minutes.

A. corrosion on the terminals (battery) - clean the terminals
B. check the related fuses and starter relay
C. try to jump start the car
D. if nothing else works - check grounds
E. rebuild the starter or buy a new one (rebuild is cheaper)

If the starter needs a rebuild it is most likely a result of worn contacts on the solenoid wich are very cheap and easy to replace once the starter is out.

You can jump the starter (if the battery is good) by making contact with the poles on the solenoid. But be very careful that the car is not in gear. Do this as a last resort. Smacking the starter (not hard enough to dent anything). That might help temporarily.

wmulli

If touching/moving the battery terminals makes the car "come to life", you have a bad connection at the battery terminal. If it's coated with the white residue you probably can't see if it's loose.

Here's what you do. Take a wire brush and brush off as much of the white residue as you can. Then make a mixture of 1 TBS baking soda to a glass of cold water. Rinse the battery terminal and surrounding area with the soda water. It will probably fiz a bit as it neutralizes the acid there. If you don't have any baking soda, straight Coca-Cola will work (but clean it later with fresh water). Once the terminal is clean, remove it from the battery and give the inside a good scrub with a wire brush, then do the terminal post. Put the connector back and make sure it's tight. With any luck, this will take care of all your problems.

Good Luck!

EmeraldLexuSC3

Electrical System:

If your car will not start at all, make sure the crank sensor is clean.

jimmit

Okay I finally got a good chance to look at the engine in some light. It looks like white stuff which I think could possibly be dried up battery acid because I saw some on the inside of the upper hood too. Its all over the positive connector and I guess its not getting a good connecting with the battery. I need to get the battery off to clean the terminal and the connector but my problem is it wont come off. I cant get the nut to unscrew. Its a tight spot and I dont have enough room for a wrench or a socket wrench. Any ideas? This morning I tried to turn the car but it did the same thing so I opened the hood and touched the wrench on the connecter and the parking lights blinked and I could turn the car on with the key. A few sparks flew and the battery just came back to life. I also with the connector and some of that white stuff flew off and its been somewhat stable on starting now. I just really need to get the damn connector off to clean it!

Thank you everyone for the responses. They were very helpful.

Hermosa

For a few bucks you can get a terminal cleaner that is cylindrical with a hole in the middle filled with wire brush. You simply place it on the battery terminals and twist in both directions until it is nice and clean. These usually also have a wire brush that looks like a small christmas tree. Place this inside the cable ends and twist again until all the garbage is cleaned up. Then remember to inspect your battery every oil change. The attendants at service centers never really look.