Technical Urgent Electrical Help Plz.

[Adamski]

Hi,
I've just got into work after failing to get my car started... It's been working fine all day but has decided that it didnt want to do the journey to work.

Basically everything is fine until I try to start the car... I can turn the ignition on and all the electrics come on.. (I believe I can even hear the fuel pump come on). The problem is when I turn the key all the way. As soon as I try to start the car nothing happens, and literally everything goes off. All the dash lights, my radio and clock etc... I can turn the ignition off and on again and I get the lights back, but again when I try to start everything just switches off, and nothing happens....

Has anyone got any idea what this could be? I desperatly need my car to get to Uni and back.. esp as I have exams this week

Any help appreciated. I've tried turning everything off.. lights etc, but no joy. And I didnt notice any other lights coming on on the dash.

Thanks

Adam

 

[GhostWKD]

did the clock reset itself when u tried to start the engine?

sounds like a dodgy earth possibly?

 

[Adamski]

I don't think the clock did reset completely... but my alarm did beep as if it had lost its power... The Earth for that is connected to the steering column. Perhaps the power didnt go off long enough for the clock to reset... I don't know

 

[Liam]

Defo electrical then, eh sounds like a flat battery but could be wrong.

Have you tried a jump?

Liam

 

[Adamski]

Just got back from work... Tried to start it... It started straight away, no problem....

Don't think it could have been a flat battery, I've used it to drive over 30miles today, so battery should be nicely charged... I just hope it doesnt happen again when there's no one about to give me a lift.

 

[MotorWorldChink]

Starter Motor almost defo

 

[polecat]

Yeah I agree with MWC. Sounds like the starter is jamming.
You would get all electrics working until you try to turn the starter, then if it sticks it takes all the power and so it seems like everything else is dead.

 

[Adamski]

Oh dear... How come it started when I tried it several hours later?.... I'll go see if it starts now... Is there a way to stop it jamming? Oiling it? or something...

 

[arc]

if it refuses to turn, hitting it will free it, but then it'll lock again next time most likely. you need a new one, but hitting it will help for now

 

[blondblackbrunette]

happend t me
the alram wasnt fitted correctly t the battery and kept drainning it
i ended taking teh battery out an refitting it again
since then ive no other problems

 

[minislapper]

Agree with above. Sounds like starter. Carry a hammer or something
similar to hit it. Had to do the same with one of my old Stradas years
ago. Quick whack with the hammer and the car was fine.

Did you try bump starting it when it wouldn't start?

 

[Adamski]

Ok... My car's done it again.... It seem like the power is completely drained.... When I turn on the ignition all the lights are dim and if I turn my radio on the power keeps cutting out... The clock itself doesnt loose the time though.... :|

I didnt have my tools with me... I'm gonna test the battery voltage tomorrow and have a look at the starter motor....

Has anyone got any other ideas? Also where abouts is the starter motor?

Thanks

 

[Adamski]

Update on the situation.... I managed to get my car started this morning... It needed a jump start because the battery was at 9V... It started straight away using my friends battery.. I left it idling for a minute or so, and turned all my lights/heater/etc on... Battery was running at 13-14V...

I turned my car off and my radio went off with it (it's powered by constant live so shouldnt go off) and tried to start it again... and as I thought, it didn't start. So I jump started again to get my car home...

So, at the moment, my car is sitting in my garage refusing to start again. If I put a multimeter on the battery I can see the voltage steadily decreasing... At the moment it's about 10.38V, if you wait 10secs or so it goes down to 10.37... 10.36 etc...

I'm not sure what to do now... Would it still be the starter motor or the battery? The green light is on the battery, so it thinks that it is fine...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[surfin_fella]

test all you earth points and alternator. That's all i can think of

 

[EckyThump]

Definitely duff battery. Sounds like the alternator is OK as the charge is high whilst running but the battery will not maintain charge whilst not in use, if you are lucky it may need topping up with distilled water and recharging, but probably be better getting a new one (the problem will be worse the colder the weather gets).

 

[Advanced Driver]

The same thing happened to me (my Sei) on Friday :-o

It was the battery! The first time it happened I suspected the battery, but then I tried again and it worked fine until I got home, but the key code (immobiliser) light was on. After that it didn't start at all, without jump starting it. After jump starting it I took the car for a long drive to charge the battery, but after about 45 mins, I flashed my lights and the battery was so low that the power steering failure light came on :-o.

After the drive the battery was up to 12.8V, but the car couldn't even pressurise the fuel pump etc, and it dropped to 9V after turning the key. Be warned though, we had problems getting a battery, the first one was too big and wouldn't fit in, so we had to get one from FIAT for £48. £48 wasn't too bad though, and it had a 3 year warranty.

 

[Adamski]

I've dropped car of in garage today... I had to bump start it because jump starting didnt even work... We tried jump starting wit 2 different batteries but it wouldnt start...

When I tried to start it the starter motor turned a little bit and then died.. you could hear it straining... It must be that... We also got the battery tested and it appears to be dodgy too. Gonna take it back to Costco as its only a year old and its meant to have a 5 year guarentee.