Well i recently replaced the alternator in my car. That same day i had problems starting the car...the rpms would jump up and go right back to zero until finally it started...seemed like the starter. Well it didnt do it for a few days after so i thought no worries.

Yesterday i went to car show with a friend, and we did a lot of start and stop...get out of car and go into building....kinda driving. After a few stops, you could tell the starting progressively got worse, now im thinking starter but thats where im not sure. I finally made it back to my friends house. I turned the car off and decided to see what happens when i would start it and nothing happened, like the revs would go up and back to zero again...but the engine wouldnt start.

I let the car sit and cool for about 40 minutes until i checked the plugs...and acording to my haynes manual, i decided they had the high speed glazing affect, but didnt replace them because it was getting dark. So i started the car about 3 times periodically and decided i was good to go, i drove to another friends house, then to the park where the car did the same thing as earlier and would not start. After sitting for about 40 minutes it took about 5-10 seconds but the car started, so i went home.

Well i really am stumped at what the problem is. I think its probably the starter...but i really am not a mechanic so i have no idea. So any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


Oh yea, i also did the do-it-yourself scan of my car, and i got it to flash a 41 on the check engine light. Now this is the cam shaft sensor and i supposedly had it replaced and fixed. Now i unplugged the battery and waited about 10 minutes...some people say 5 or 10 so i waited. Well the light was still on...but this was a few weeks ago. So what else could be the problem?

Thanks for any help

When you say the tach jumps up then drops back down to zero.. does the car still crank during that time? If so, does the starter get faster, slower, or stay the same [speed wise]?

Do you have a full cluster? If so, what are the engine temps sitting at? If not, is your cooling system in proper order, or does your coolant dummy light come on at all?


-justin

No the car...i guess attempts to crank, the lights will dim and everything but the starter seems to get slower and slower.

The temp gauge while running will usually sit at the quarter mark and if ive stopped for a long period of time, then it sits right around half to a lil more than half.

Ive got the LE cluster, i should probably put that in my sig but i drive a 1990 Bonneville LE and the only problem ive had with the cooling system was the water pump but i replaced that and havent had any leaks since.

Did you replace the battery the sametime that you replaced the altenator....you may have a bad battery on you hands. What are your voltage levels while running?

I changed the alternator on thursday, and the guy at autozone told me my battery was good according to his tests, then he tested the alternator but i used my friends passpor 8500...has the voltage monitor on it and it said 13.9 while i was moving.

Drive the car to autozone....and have them load test the battery when it'* warm and see what happens......Something tells me that batteries bad.

My truck has the same issue, I'm just too lazy to fix it because I don't ever drive it.

lol ok will do, i just hope its not the starter cause i dont exactly have all the money.

Even though it wont start when its hot, it still starts weekly so do you think its that? also it could be the battery because i was running an alternator that was giving it a low charge for a few weeks. So hopefully its taht but i dunno. Thanks for the help though, Ill see what happens.

It really sounds like a battery to me. But if you swap batterry'* or something, make sure you clean up your connections on the battery cables. These cars are extremly power hungry and need all the current they can get.

yea, i bought new batery terminals when i did the alternator, but besides that i dunno what it could be, unless i need to clean the rings around the terminals. If so, what should i use to clean them?

But what could make the battery work when cold and not while hot? it just doesnt make sense i guess.

baking soda....or some coca cola....believe it or not.....Coke does work for removing battery corrosion.