alright here's the deal............

i am almost positive that i need a new coil and a new opti, my car is sputtering and hesitating really bad when it is warm. i also, have problems with my charging/electrical system.

sometimes ( 1 out of 3 times) when the car is first started, it will almost die and the battery gauage will flutter and read really low (in the red). i have to give it a little gas and then it will idle alright. then while driving the battery gauge seems to almost go down the longer i drive. once, the gauge was reading a little above half, and i nailed it, as i floored the car, the gauge started going down like something was sucking the power out of the car?????

also, once i shut off the car it is hard to start (like the battery is dead, really slow cranking) right back up (anywhere up to an hour or two) but when it sits overnight, or for a longer period of time, it will start just fine. it almost seems like something is charging it the longer it sits???

i am going to fix my opti and coil, but does it sound like i have another problem there as well??? i am going to double check all of my connections to the alternator/battery, but i think there might be something else wrong here???? any ideas?

thanks fellas

thomas

 

I just had a problem with mine that sounds like yours. When trying to start my car it would either click repeatedly or it would crank really slowly and then fire up. I took the battery, alternator and starter to Autozone to have them test and everything tested ok. So i got the car started, took it to Autozone and had them check the charging system. It was charging fine. So, i bought a new battery and it fixed it. So, even thought they charged it and tested it, it was still bad.
Check your voltage directly at the battery terminals when you are cranking your engine. If it drops below 10-11 volts, it's your battery. You can also try letting your car idle, and turn on your headlights and your ac. If the voltage on your gauge (on the dash cluster) starts to drop and doesn't stay constant, it's your battery. Idle voltage should be around 14.4 volts. Good luck.

 

the car has a new battery in it

thanks though

anyone else wanna give it a shot??

 

I have heard of even 2 week old batteries being bad. It is a possibility. Don't rule rule it out unless you have completely checked it out. My .02

 

Check the plug wires may be one got burned. I would wait until its dark open the hood and let it idle check to see if you see any arking by the wires if you do then thats the bad one.



lt1coz

 

Any smoke or overheating accompanying the symptoms ?

 

I do not think so. When I replaced the Headers with aftermarket I had a problem just like this I changed the opti- spark wires and plugs. After 1200 dollors and a year later it was only one spark plug that was bad.



lt1coz

 

nope, i checked the plugs and wires. do you guys not think it is the opti?????

the car has 106k on the original opti. this has been going on for awhile. i thought it was fixed and then it just got worse.

i need to know what this is

 

Did they check the starter to see how many amps it pulls while starting the car. It sounds like slow cranking when the car is hot is a problem with heat soak in the starter. When the starter cools off comletely it cranks fine. Check that out. Just an idea....don't know what that would do for your problem with voltage drop. I do like the battery idea as well. I put on a new alternator and it still wasn't charging right...ended up being the battery even though they checked it as fine.

 

I would fix the charging problem first. Then move on to the other problem. You never know, it could have something to do with your stumbling problem.

 

alright, this will be my list.....

1. check draw from battery
2. check draw from starter
3. double check plugs/wires
4. check draw from alternator


anything else.....????

thanks guys, i'll let you know what i find.

thomas

 

Check your batt cables because it sounds like a bad neg cable is causing to much of a amp draw. Check the cheap stuff first.