EDIT - currently the problem is fixed, no need for help anymore

if you read my other post, I was noticed my battey was tilted, and I disconnected it to find the front mount piece was broken. I put screws in the plastic to hold it. so I reconnect battery. I drive to movies, later after sitting for a couple hours the car wouldnt start, just click. I got someone to hook jumper cables up, and tried that but it still didnt seem to have enough power to start the engine. since my car is M6 we push/bump started it and that worked. I got the engine running and the volts were at normal ~13. I went home.

next day car wouldnt start again. so I go to autozone to test bat. a terminal was leaking a little acid, probably because I tightened the bolt down to hard. ok so I buy a new duralast gold battery. install it, car starts and volts are ~13 like normal. everything seems good. Now Im about to go to the gym and car wont start. this is where it gets odd.
I try to start and gauges light up like normal in run, but I try to start and it clicks, starter dosent turn, then gauges go out. I take the key out. I hooked up a voltmeter to battery terminals and it reads 12.35 or something volts. I try at the AUX terminal by fuse box and same thing. So I put the key on run. and gauges flicker and act all wierd. I take key out, and try again, this time it works and gauges seem normal, but starter just clicks.

I tried a couple different times to put the key in and the gauges act differently, like have no power, or do the "reset routine", and/or have full power.
For some reason it behaves erraticaly like theres a loose connection or something, and sometimes it acts like it is getting power but starter wont work. This electrical problem just happened all of a sudden yesterday, never had a battery problem before


When I put the new battery in, the starter worked perfectly so i dont think its the starter. When the car got started yesterday with the old battery, volts seemed high and good, so I dont think its the alternator.

I havent checked for current drain by removing a terminal and putting a light bulb in between, Ill do that tomorrow morning, but the erratic/random problem seems to not be a simply dead battery due to some drain.



So what should I do to diagnose the problem? please write any info/experience that might help

 

Same thing happen to me it end up been that my starter wire was corroded changed it and have not had that problem again.

 

/|\ how did you isolate the problem?
-----------------------------------

when I tried to start it this morning, I put key in and turned on and nothing happened on dash. the starter made no noise, and when I pulled the key out the gauges reset and bounced around. I tried again and gauges just did nothing 2nd time.

I visually checked all main wires and they seem to be ok.

I tried disconnecting neg. terminal and putting dome light bulb and it didnt light. I turned key on run and it still didnt light.

I disconnected both terminals and checked resistance between the pos. and neg. straps with key on off and it was around 15 or 1.5 m.ohms if I remember correctly. is there a certain interval to check for?

battery reads 12.3v when key is off or run, and dosent go down while in run. I dont have an ammeter to check for other stuff.

going to try to push start it by myself, if I can then Im driving to autozone to see if they can test the alternator or battery again.

 

Your starter can be bad even though it started as soon as you put the new battery in. The solenoid can be going bad and sticking which causes a no start condition. Will it start if the car has been sitting for a long time and is cold ? If so, it is usually a bad solenoid and it is best just to replace the starter.

 

but if it was just the starter then my gauges should work, but they are acting like the battery is dead.

 

wow i got a friend that her starter on her 02 LS1 is going bad..... check the prices on those things they are

 

autozone may have given you a bum battery. also check for a voltage drop btween the battery and alternator or loose connection. 12.3 is low for a battery. it should be 12.68V or better

 

couldnt get it started by dropping the clutch as it was going down my driveway...
I hear a noise under the hood so I find that the IGN relay is vibrating. to I pull it and put it back in and it stops. I switch the Starter relay w/ IGN since its the same and nothing happens, and it dosent make noise anymore. then I notice when key is off theres a noise like a relay is "vibrating" in the glove compartment area (more by pass. foot area) and when I put key on run it stops, but starts when off again.

So I go to pull the battery out and notice the red stap bolt that bolts to the pos. terminal is pretty hot. I tried to feel if any main pos wire was hot but I couldnt tell. I notice that sstrap terminal is very corroded, so I pull the rubber boot off and the bolt and metal is corroded. So im about to clean it real good and try hooking battery back up.

 

wow, I took terminal bolt off and the bolt had **** all over the contacting surface, so did the back side of the strap terminal. so I put them in coke and hit it with a wire brush but there were some heavy deposits so I took some sand paper and cleaned the surfaces real good. I put it all back together w/o the boot and the car started like nothing was wrong! so then I put the boot back on, checked the neg. strap, but it didnt have any corrosion, and put everything back together like normal. and what do you know the car started.

so I go to autozone to try and check if the alternator is good and he said its normal, reading around 14v. and the battery is still good too. and the car seems to start fine.
this happened after I put the new battery in, and then it was dead the next day so Im watching it, but as of now the earlier symptoms arent happening.


the problem seemed to be heavily corroded terminals connecting to the battery.