This is getting very irritating!

Every time I go out to start my car after letting it sit over night.. the bastard wont start. I get a single click from my starter. The battery voltage reads 11.6 and when i crank it drops down to 10.8 volts. Battery is brand new and alternator is brand new.

Lastnight I checked for abnormal draw from the battery while the car is off and found its pulling .02 amps... nothing major.

If I jump the battery from another vehicle then it starts up just fine. And if I run around town for a while then go back to start it... everything is normal. I dont understand why if I let it set for more than 12 hours... I cant get it started to save my life. A few weeks ago it was doing this but if i cranked it 10 times or so then it would finally turn over and fire up.

The only thing left is my starter... how does a guy check it?

 

There was a post similar to this up here yesterday, I'll see if I can't find it, but I believe it said even while cranking there should be at least 11 volts....maybe that's it, somebody else should know better than I though.
Bill

 

Here we go...from my friend slowpoke who posted this on another thread...

After you get all that straight, put a volt meter across the battery and be sure the voltage does not go below 11 volts when someone else cranks it over. If it does start, check that the voltage across the battery is now about 14 volts.

Bill

 

Thanks but I know my problem is not the battery or the alternator.

Anybody know how many amps a starter pulls?

 

just because you have a new battery doesnt mean ****. i went through many a battery in my TA. Napa batteries suck by the way if thats what you got. Your battery should be NO LESS than 12.5 V just sitting there. If you're under that, you either have a draw overnight, or the battery isnt charging back to full because of a poor connection somewhere in the charging system. If you can restart after driving around for awhile though, i dont think thats the case here. But the fact that you're at 11.5 or whatever b4 you try to start sends flags up. I had a not so old battery start doing this exact same thing on my intrepid. I swore up and down that it was everything but the battery, changed starters, cleaned grounds and hot connections, checked wiring for shorts and grounds and continuity from end to end. In the end, it turned out the battery just wasnt holding the charge after more than 6 hours. Take the battery back to where you got it and just tell them its not holding a charge and get it replaced free. Id be willing to bet money on this.

 

The battery has been tested several times. Today when it was acting up I read 12.56 volts with my meter but 11.8 running my water pump and fuel pump and 10.5 when I try to engage the starter.

The car does crank and fire just fine after driving around though. Today I let it sit for 4 hrs while I was at work and when I came out to go home it started like normal. Seems only after 12 hrs or so have passed is when I have trouble with it. But like I said the voltage is fine... i wish I could check the amps.

I work at the TLE at walmart and have checked/replaced the battery myself already. Every time I check it it comes up good cell. The problem did end up being the battery the first time crap started. It showed a good 12.5 volts but only 400 amps so I got a free battery and thought my problems were gone.

 

I see you posting, Rob.... probably laughin at me b/c the problem is so simple yet I cant figure it out.

 

ok, heres a good way to find out for sure,....you'll lose memory and **** to your presets and pcm, but do this,......when you park it overnight next time, remove the battery terminal til the next morning when you go to drive it. If you still have the problem its the battery. My battery had a shorted cell or something internally im guessing. Anyways,...if you dont have the problem after this,.....then I would start searching for a slow draw.

 

I had the same exact problem...and responded to another thread in more detail. Short story: It would not start in the morning unless I jumped it, or beeped the horn. (Don't ask me why, I have NO clue.) This made me think it was the battery, but it tested fine. After I drove for a while, it would start up fine...for a while. I lived with the problem and slowly the car would be harder and harder to start. One day at a gas station.....nothing.....not even a single click. Replaced the starter and never had the problem again.

So my vote is for the starter.

 

I hope you are right. What did a new starter cost you? I already wasted $100 on an alternator b/c the guys at Autozone couldnt use the equipement correctly and told me my old alternator was only putting out 12 amps.

 

LOL, thats some funny ****. I replaced my started a little back because the solenoid just kept clicking but wouldnt always engage. Got stuck one time for a good few minutes and started losing patience. Replaced it shortly thereafter fearing getting stranded and hasnt done that since. But it was intermittent so i figured at first id wait to see how bad it got. Theres a trick to repairing the solenoids on GM starters to get them going again if thats all thats wrong with it.

 

When I read your first post... I thought like he said above, you obviously have a slow drain on the battery somewhere since it was only reading 11.5v after sitting over night... But then you said you were getting 12.56v and it still wouldn't start... You sure the + connection from the battery at the starter is tight and the cable isn't corroded? I'd check that before testing the starter... When it doesn't start in the morning, you can test the starter by jumping the positive connection at the starter with the connection on the solenoid... If it turns over you know you have a problem with the + cable or in wiring to the ignition switch, or the ignition switch... But because it's awkward reaching those connections, I'd just remove the starter and have it tested... I've taken a few starters over the years to Autozone and had them test it... ..and like you, I've dealt with inept employees there... Just make sure you go with the guy and watch him test it... If he tells you it's bad ask him to test one off the shelf to make sure.. I did that once and it turned out the idiot that tested the starter didn't have the "S" terminal connecter hooked up on my starter.

 

I wasnt very clear on that first post. When i had the 11.5 volts was when all the accessories were running. The battery is 12.56v when everything is turned off.

 

I wouldn't trust those autozone idiots to fill the blinker fluid. I was having the similar problem a few weeks ago,, changed the starter and everything is fine. No problems since.