tehhijack

I have a 95 camaro that has seen better days. EVERYTHING needs work on that car. Recently when doing minor repairs i found out the cheapo walmart battery it had finally died, I had a buddy of mine that could sell me a brand new deep cycle battery for cheap and i decided to buy it. The battery on the car is a side post and the one i bought is a top post so i had to modify the car a little so it would take the new battery, i took out the radiator fluid reservoir and it slid right in, only problem was the cables were too short. I cut the ends off and bought the proper gauge cable and crimped the ends, everything went good except now the car won't crank, when i turn the key all the lights come on but when i go to start it i hear a relay click but nothing happens. The car still has VATS and i see no security light coming on so i don't think that's what it is. When i was extending the cables i sort of forgot witch ones went where since i did this over a 3 day period, after an hour of looking at it i figured our what was positive and what was negative by the way i cut the cables, since the lights turn on i don't think i got them backwards. The cables that go to the starter are both black, one is positive and one is negative unless i somehow got them mixed up. Does somebody have a wiring diagram that would let me confirm my jerry rigged cabling is correct? or is this an entirely other issue. The car is a 1995 camaro base 3.4 manual. THANKS!!!!

tehhijack

UPDATE: I had the starter checked and it checked out good. I replaced the Ignition switch and still the same thing. I did a VATS bypass with the resistor and still no crank!!!! The tables i extended were triple checked and they are all okay. Dos anyone have a picture of their battery tray to confirm my wiring?

Injuneer

Not many 3.4 owners here any more. I have the 95 factory manual. Do you have the wiring diagram for the battery/alternator system? If not I can scan it and post it. There should also be a diagram of the actual wire routing in the manual. I'll check for that in the manual.

If you want I can give you link to a free download of the 1995 factory manual.

Cherry93

When you extended the cables did you put in the ground wire going from the negative battery cable to the ground post on the right hand fender well by the red junction block? I don't have a diagram in front of me at the moment, but just a thought

Injuneer

From the 95 factory manual, wiring diagram - power distribution:

Positive terminal - Page 8A-10-2

-19 (sq mm) black wire to starter solenoid
-8 (sq mm) red wire to the alternator
-13 (sq mm) red wire to battery junction box


wiring diagram - ground distribution:

Negative terminal - Page 8A-14-6

-19 (sq mm) black to ground 100 (engine block, belt tension bolt, RH front of engine)
-13 (sq cm) black to ground 101 (top of RH shock tower)

When I switched to a light weight Braille battery, it had top post terminals, and I got side bolt to top post adapters that allowed the cables to stay pretty much in the stock locations, at stock length.

tehhijack

It appears i have wired it all up correctly. I went and tightened every screw and still no crank. Yesterday i went in and manually hotwired the car to see if maybe my ignition cylinder was bad but still no crank. I am thinking maybe something with my coils or ICM is bad?

tehhijack

I will check and see if my starter is getting power tomorrow on my day off, anything else i could check? I know all the fuses are good and i can hear the pump priming when i turn the key it just won't crank.

Injuneer

What is the reading on the dash volt gauge when you turn the key to "start"?

Are you sure the "SECURITY" light is working? Does it light up briefly during the bulb check when you turn the key to "run"? If there is a problem with the key or the lock cylinder in reading the resistance the "SECURITY" light should stay on solid if the resistance is wrong, or start flashing if there is an open circuit from the cylinder to the theft deterrent module.

tehhijack

The battery is brand new, I have two interstate deep cycle batteries. One for my truck and one for the camaro. The security light turns on and then goes out after a few seconds. I have bypassed the VATS thinking that is what was causing it not to start but it is still doing the same thing. No security light flashes so i don't think it is the anti theft. When i unplug the VATS bypass it starts flashing. I am thinking it is something under the hood. The car started up just fine with the old battery but after i extended the cables and put a new battery in it won't start.

Injuneer

Volts appear to be in the red zone. It's only going to get worse when you turn the key to "start"..... that's the number I asked about. Not with the key in "run".

tehhijack

I mentioned it was a brand new battery, in the picture its a bit crusty because i switched out that was in the truck to the car, that battery was fully charged. I tested it with a multimeter and it reads 12v so it can't bebthe battery.

Injuneer

I know it's new. I actually read your post carefully several times, trying to find something that could help you.

12 V under no load means nothing. What is the voltage when trying to crank the engine? May be fine...... or it may not be.

tehhijack

I'll check in a few hours when I come home from work.

tehhijack

It drops down to 11.95v while turning the key to crank, nothing happens. I asked around and they hinted to my coil packs being bad since i put a brand new battery in and the coils are probably OEM and they blew because they were old.

Injuneer

Why would faulty coils prevent the starter from engaging? Dead coils, the starter would crank the engine, but no spark would mean no start.