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New battery but no crank

Sepharad

Sepharad

Enthusiast
Messages
31
Location
Portugal
I left the lights on, battery was already old. The old one tried to crank but was sad. Put in a new battery and NOTHING. The new battery has a charge. I changed an ugly but intact looking fuse. Still nothing. All wires seems connected. The terminals have funky slip on caps with threaded, screw on studs.

Any ideas? As far as i can tell I put it in correctly. I did manage to lose a screw down cap (like a plastic wingnut) and used a nut.
 
Does the starter motor make a click when you try to start it?
 
Do you have a decent multi-meter to hand? If so, check the battery voltage and then check it again when the starter's engaged; it should drop from 12.6 volts to 9.6 volts. If it doesn't drop at all then the voltage isn't reaching the starter motor. This is the first stage in diagnosing the fault, but a good place to start. Let's see what happens when you do this.... If you don't have a multi-meter, do the following: turn the headlights on & check that they go dim when you try to start the car. We await reports......
 
There is no click. The old battery was weak enough that it tried to turn. I installed a new battery which sparks when tested. It is as if there is no connection, whatsoever.

I do not have a multimeter, but I will run the light dimming test. I also will look into a multimeter.
 
If it was all Ok with a flat battery ( ie trying) but not when installed the new, have you checked the ends of the battery leads themselves for good connections to where they go, they might of been suspect prior to changing battery and moving/pulling while changing battery made poor connections no connection.
 
laxeian said:
If it was all Ok with a flat battery ( ie trying) but not when installed the new, have you checked the ends of the battery leads themselves for good connections to where they go, they might of been suspect prior to changing battery and moving/pulling while changing battery made poor connections no connection.
Click to expand...
As Laxeian says, resistance across the battery connectors can happen, hence my suggestion regarding a multi-meter, which would pick up any resistance between the battery terminal and the wire connector.
 
Hate stating obvious but the new battery hasnt got the poles in a reversed position to original?
 
Monday here in Portugal, I am buying new battery terminal connectors. The old ones were some crackpot scheme from before the French Revolution. As to reversed poles. I wondered that too. My positive is back toward the firewall and negative toward the grill. The wire from the Positive pole connects to a mysterious electrical device on the right side of the engine. The negative pole cable snakes across the engine and downward, to disappear into the depths on the left side of the engine compartment, I assume to a frame or body panel ground.

But...how does a noob know for sure?
 
And while I am at it, where can I find the fuse requirements? Not in haynes. What size fuse do I need for which slot?
 
Hello Sepharad, the negative is usually connected to the side of the gearbox.

The positive wire is connected to the alternator, which is the mysterious electrical device that you refer to.

From the positive terminal there should also be another cable (so 2 in total). This second one goes to the starter motor.
So from the positive terminal, one to the starter and one to the alternator.
 
From your description Sepharad it sounds as if you have the two wires that should be connected to the positive terminal ( as mojobaby states,one to alternator, one to starter) connected one to each terminal, both should go to positive terminal and your missing the earth(negative) wire that attatches to front left hand of gearbox,by radiator just under fan.
Heres a photo of mine, hope it s the same configuration as yours!image.jpg
 
Thank you for the photo. I was worried I had them reversed somehow. Buyt mine is identical to your phot Laxeian (Andy?) I got brass replacements just like the one in the photo, but with wing nuts. The old slip on claw type werepretty corroded and loose. By fear is, that its something else. I will replace them tomorrow.
 
1st challenge overcome! As a ‘noob’ in the future the 1st tool out of the box should be your smartphone/tablet camera, a photo reference of where you start and of each stage, its your own handheld reference then if your not sure.
Exactly the same principle was used by the recently departed John Haynes to make up most enthusiasts car reference bible ‘ The Haynes manual’, so it works!
 
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