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Topic: T-Bird Wont Start (Read 3105 times) previous topic - next topic

T-Bird Wont Start

I have a 1987 T-Bird with a 5.0 I can go and have the battery chagred and it will drain the battery within a few days. I have had the alternator tested and it is good. I belive it maybe the starter selinoid switch. On my car it is located on the firewall right next to the battery. Any Thoughts??

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #1 –
Its certainly not the starter selenoid since you r able to start the car....

If the battery drain, go to a shop that have a battery tester..... They will give it a charge and check if it keep it. If you r from Canada, Any "Canadian Tire" store will do it for free on any Motomaster battery.

If the Alternator is "O.k.", check at the battery with a Volt-meter (w/ Engine running) if the battery is being recharged by you alternator. You should read approx : 14v.
If you read 12.5v or less, check your alternator wires.... it doesnt charge!

If you read 14v, unplug positive lead of your battery (with key OFF) and put an Amp-Meter between the battery (+) and the red wire to check if there is a charge slowly draining your battery.

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #2 –
What i did to test the alternator was i had the battery tested and charged...put it in the car...cranked the car right up and yanked the positive battery cable from the battery. The car kept going at this point. Now that tells me that it is not the alternator correct??? Also when i got the battery put in the car...it cranked up...i left it for a few days...tried to crank it...it cranked right up, BUT the next day i i tried to crank it and it tried to turn over and then dies. all my accesories were woring and the starter would click to try to turn but the car would not crank...let me know what you think...thanks!!!

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #3 –
My daughter had a Geo Metro with a drain on the battery that took about five days to drain it to where it would not start if she did not drive it.
So depending on how far and how often she drove to recharge it she could go a month or more before she got into trouble.

Try disconnecting the negative battery cable when you park. When you start up be sure to drive enough to recharge what you used to start, about five miles.

If this "cures" it you have too much drain while the car is off.

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #4 –
When you car wont start do your other accesories work? do your headlights light up bright or dim or not at all?
1980 birds X 3, 1982 bird, 1984 XR7, 1988 TC

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #5 –
Quote
What i did to test the alternator was i had the battery tested and charged...put it in the car...cranked the car right up and yanked the positive battery cable from the battery.

NONONONONONO!

When you pull the cable, the huge voltage spike from the suddenly missing "load" of the battery can fry all kinds of parts... the alternator's diodes, the radio, the ECU, etc.  And if your battery happens to be putting out any hydrogen gas at the time (normal by-product of charging), and the cable sparks, you may hear a loud bang, followed by sulphuric acid being sprayed everywhere as the battery explodes.
Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.

1988 5.0 Bird, mostly stock, partly not, now gone to T-Bird heaven.
1990 Volvo 740GL. 114 tire-shredding horsies, baby!

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #6 –
mmmkkkaaayy... gonna remember to NEVER do that again ;)

 :ies:
1980 birds X 3, 1982 bird, 1984 XR7, 1988 TC

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #7 –
Quote from: MasterBlaster
NONONONONONO!

When you pull the cable, the huge voltage spike from the suddenly missing "load" of the battery can fry all kinds of parts... the alternator's diodes, the radio, the ECU, etc.  And if your battery happens to be putting out any hydrogen gas at the time (normal by-product of charging), and the cable sparks, you may hear a loud bang, followed by sulphuric acid being sprayed everywhere as the battery explodes.

you beat me to it
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #8 –
Update: I am about to go home with a newly purchased test light, i am going to have my battery charged and but the light on it to see if i may have a small battery drain. I have also purchased a couple other parts that is going to get this problem resolved for me...Hopefully. Ill keep everyone posted. Thanks!!

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Sly1990
Its certainly not the starter selenoid since you r able to start the car....

wrong
ever heard of heat corrosion or patial contact being made?  The starter solenoid is a probable fault but pulling fuses while a meter is hooked to the battery will get it down to which circuit.  the meter will stop going down in Volts DC when the faulty circuit is de-energized.
exception would be one of your circuits that have no fuse in the fuse box.

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Sly1990

If you read 14v, unplug positive lead of your battery (with key OFF) and put an Amp-Meter between the battery (+) and the red wire to check if there is a charge slowly draining your battery.


sorry to be picking on you but you gotta use terminology as you mean it.  This guy may just print out all this advice and hand it over to a mechanic and say,, "thats what these guys said to do".
the mechanic will say,,"but where am i gonna get an AMP METER that will handle 900cca incase its a real bad short?"

if you meant Voltmeter,, then im really confused as to why the battery has to come undone at all.  No mention of respect to polarity either which is extremly helpful if your using an buttstuffog meter as the calibration of the needle could be fuggered up when it pegs to the left real hard.

and, a charge does not drain
as does
a drain does not charge

im so confused.

dont get mad or pissed at me,, its just one of those things like....
a guy the other day said his outlet by the stove does not work.  He said there must be a "SHORT" somewhere.  >>this is the point where i bite my tounge but my ass over rides my mouth and i say....

no Dave,, there is no short here,, THERE IS AN OPEN.  Especially when the breaker did not even kick.

or like this one
i call a appliance sevice place and inquire the normal resistance of a typical hot water tank heating element.  the guy says
"well, i dont set mine to resistance, i set it to RX1 and if the meter swings real hard to the right , its good"  Im like WTF!!!!!!!
I did some digging and found out a typical element should be around 10-15ohms and called the guy back to let him know he should set his meter to Rx10 from now on to save the calibration on his simpson he said he uses.

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #11 –
Quote from: jcassity
sorry to be picking on you but you gotta use terminology as you mean it.  This guy may just print out all this advice and hand it over to a mechanic and say,, "thats what these guys said to do".
the mechanic will say,,"but where am i gonna get an AMP METER that will handle 900cca incase its a real bad short?"


:giggle:.... I didnt saw it that way...  :bricks1:

Sorry... it was confusing to me too.... Cuz in french "une charge sur un circuit" mean "A load/drain on a circuit"...
And I hope no one is stupid enough to put an amp meter between his battery and wire while cranking....  :screwy:  :giggle:
A 900cc short should make battery explode anyway.... or a lot of smoke... ask me....  :dunce:

Since i asked if there is still 14v at the battery, i knew there was no excessive shortage or drain...  :ies:
Most digital mutlimeter can hanle up to 15Amp for couple of seconds


Quote

and, a charge does not drain
as does
a drain does not charge

im so confused.


I think i gonna give those Google Translation tools a try next time.....  :sorry:


Quote
dont get mad or pissed at me,, its just one of those things like....

Why should I? I mishagpressed myself....

Quote
I call a appliance sevice place and inquire the normal resistance of a typical hot water tank heating element.  the guy says :"well, i dont set mine to resistance, i set it to RX1 and if the meter swings real hard to the right , its good" 

OMFG  :dunce:  :wtf:  :screwy:

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #12 –
pardon :brick:
Je suis parle fracais' comse comsa  (NOT!!)

i see what you mean, i forgot about the language thing you deal with all the time.  In that case, great job :)

Re: T-Bird Wont Start

Reply #13 –
OK sorry I have not posted in a while but the issue we have been debating over has been resolved. Basically, with some help from my brother in law, i used a almmeter and determented that my alternator was putting out 14.85...which is good, then we tested to see if there was a drain and there was only a .01 battery drain...which would be my clock and computer and so on....thats normal too....so then we went through and tested all my fusable links to make sure that the power was getting into the car...all good....the we tested my ground....well the battery had ground but there was no ground on the engine....so we took a socket and tightened the bolt on the block connecting the negative battery cable and the car cranked right up...YAY!!!! no more problem ever since...funny how somthing so simple can be so annoying. Thanks for everyones suggestions and help. I have basically decided to park the Tbird for a while and do a full HO conversion with ported heads and intake( becuase im poor and cant afford the good stuff)...underdrive pulleys, better exhuast, and some small interior work....i am also saving for a much needed paint job( tax return check )