So my Car has been sitting for the past few months and I was starting it regularly and it would start fine until about 2months ago I removed the driver side valve cover and unplugged the nec. lines to lift it up. reassembled it all last week and tried to start, it wouldnt I jumped it twice since then and last time i did was fri and it said it had full charge. It would only make this clicking noise and would not even crank, rechecked all wires and everything seems good. So I retried today and it says on volt gauge there is really is no volts which is weird since fri i had the full charge. I will be working on it tomorrow, anyone know of a culprit and things I should check.

When was doing valve cover some1 was working on it with me and I havnt talked to them in a few weeks and prob wont hear from them til bout another week but they may have undone a fuse , where is the fuel pump fuse or relay and is there supposed to be fuse inside fuse box where it says ign, bat and accy. PLZ hlp me figure this out.

 

Let's ignore the valvecover removal for now.

Priority #1: Clearly, an engine isn't going to start if it isn't cranking over, and it isn't going to crank over without a good battery. That supersedes any other problems you might have.

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How old was your battery?

When cars are turned off, there is still a parasitic drain on the battery (usually around 20-80mA). Starting a car and letting it idle for a few minutes probably isn't going to fully offset that parasitic drain. When you completely discharge a standard lead-acid battery, down to zero volts (as you have), the battery will not typically hold a charge again. In other words, your battery is shot.

If you're going to store a car for a long period of time, I'd recommend that you buy a "trickle-charger." They got 'em at Walmart and most local autoparts stores. It'll keep your battery charged while the car sits, and "float" (stop charging) when the battery is fully charged -- thus eliminating this issue. If you buy one, make sure it has the float feature. I personally use the Battery Tender brand.

You can also use a digital multi-meter (wired in-series with the battery) to measure the parasitic drain current, to ensure you don't have an electrical problem. Again, about 20-80mA is normal. Above that, you've got a problem, and you need to start pulling fuses to find which circuit is causing the excessive drain.

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So, I'd replace the battery and see where that gets you. The clicking you are hearing is your starter solenoid, but it sounds to me like you don't have enough amperage to engage the starter motor / crank the engine over. If you replace the battery and it still won't crank, then I'd suspect the starter motor itself -- which can be removed and tested.

After that point, if it cranks and still wont start, then we can delve into what you did to that poor valvecover. I'd recommend testing the parasitic drain current with the new battery to ensure you don't kill the new battery in the interim. It's possible that something is shorting out, thus killing your old battery.

 

it looks newer, i think the previous owner mite have changed it out probably a few months b4 i got it, so maybe around a 1yr. Would the starter go bad from the car sitting?

 

take that batteries to autozone for testing. I just bought a new red top optima 150 dollar, it made my engine look so much better lol.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Battery-Te...unior/15779492 is this right one ?

 

Yes sir, that's it.

However, looks like you can get it about $10 cheaper off of Amazon.com. They also make bigger ones for handling multiple batteries at once.

Not typically. It's usually heat or foreign contamination that destroys electrical components. At this point, I don't feel there's any basis to assume your starter is bad.

Out of curiosity, why were you removing the driver's valvecover? Having valvetrain issues?

 

test battery, if that checks good, hit starter solenoid lightly with a hammer. then try and start it. lol

 

there was a ticking sound from the engine ,but we thought it was a pushrod bent or a bad rocker and the rockers are fine, so checked spark plug was cracked in half so i think that mite have been culprit , need to see that why i need to start and actually was looking at the red top earlier, i am going to be working on it in about hour

 

Check the battery cables.

Al

 

so we took the battery out of circuit and had the charger directly in its place, and it still wouldnt start , father in law said it would probably be the starter selinoid but to just change out the whole starter b.c thats usually the problem , we did not have a jack so we could not get that far but where is exactly located, the wires though of to the left side of the positive, is missing the red top part to cover the wires so yea would that be a factor if there a little rusty, i will change them out

 

bump, for lt1 expert advice

 

Um... few thoughts.

1) Never try to jump-start your car without a battery installed. You can induce transients in your electrical system that can fry sensitive electronics... such as your PCM. Bad idea. Batteries effectively suppress those transients. Perhaps take a moment to check all of your fuses, if you haven't already done so.

2) What kind of charger were you using to try to jump-start the car -- how many amps does it pump out? LT1 batteries typically produce between 525-800 CCA -- if the jump-start feature of your charger doesn't produce that much amperage, it would negate the test, and I wouldn't attempt to draw any conclusions from it.

3) Your previous post was a little unclear. Are you saying you have corroded battery cables? Or are you referring to the small red "remote power distribution block" near the battery? Keep in mind that the starter motor has a dedicated positive battery cable connected to it. The starter simply grounds through the engine block -- there is no negative cable going to the starter.

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Perhaps others will chime in, but I really don't have anything new to tell you. You haven't yet fixed the single known fundamental problem. If your old battery is dead, then you need to get a new battery installed before condemning anything else. If you don't want to buy a new battery, grab a battery out of a friend's or family member's car for now.

Gotta follow some sort of method here, otherwise you're just running around in circles. If a fresh battery doesn't fix it, then it sounds like you're on the right track by considering removing/testing the starter. That would be the logical next step.

Hope you get it figured out. Be careful if you try to bench-test the starter yourself.

 

where is the starter?

I was talking about that little post of on the side i think you are talking about

I am unsure of the specifics on the charger it was father in laws and it was putting out 12 amperage i think

I will undo the battery later and bring it to autozone

 

Passenger side of the engine, at the rear of the block (near the transmission bell-housing, naturally, so that it can engage the flywheel ring gear).



It might be difficult to get to if you have the stock exhaust in the way, which is partially why I was recommending that you verify the battery first.

If you get a new battery in there, be absolutely certain that you disconnect the negative battery cable before messing with the starter, or you will potentially have a 500-amp short circuit (which would obviously be dangerous). You'll have two wires to remove -- purple solenoid control wire as well as the positive battery cable. Two bolts hold it to the block from the bottom, as shown.

HTH

 

kk , yea i have stock exhaust manifold and then it is just that the battery 150 if baterry is ok id rather spend the 150 on the cost of the starter which is like 164, ima dble check it tomorrow

 

Have you tried jumping the car? Even if you battery was bad, you'd be able to get the car started and then it'd run off the alternator. Since yours only clicks, I'd try jumping it. If it still didn't go,I'd drop the starter and take it to Autozone along with the battery. Then you'd know for sure which one is bad if either one. No sense in buying parts that you havn't confirmed bad. It very well could be bad cables. I've seen then internally corroded and causing the same problem. Try peeling your insulation back from the terminals and see if they look green. Good Luck!

BTW: I cringed when you explained trying to start the car off your charger. PLease, don't attempt that again! Always have a battery, even a bad one.

 

ok, will do learned my leason first time , could just doing that 1nce caused problem and i did try jumping with cables did clicking , charged the battery the other day til it was full and then put to start and it wouldnt jump , then yesterday we did all that and it would still just do the clicking as you all have read, so thats why im leaning more toward the starter, even though it does not make sense , why it went bad since it has just been sitting unless, if that is the problem that happend from when i had the "toyota problem"

 

A battery can get to the point where it won't charge anymore. Take it and get it tested autozone, advance, orielly can all do it. If it checks out ok, take the starter and have it tested, and check the wires.

 

I have checked wires, a friend of mine that is mechanic says he does not think it is starter b.c it would only click once, not repeadtly, but he a dodge mech. For u xperts is that true, I am going to bring battery in today or 2morrow depending on if autozone open.

 

battery is currently at autozon getting charged then will b tested so I will know if it is the battery soon