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Car trouble.
Xaviar
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey, so I've got a '97 sonoma.
It has a shitty battery in it, so I have to jump or charge it occasionally, as I live in northern minnesota.
Last time I drove it, it started just fine, and ran fine. Parked it in the garage.
Didn't drive it for two days, went to start it. Didn't start. It tried, and it tried hard. Didn't sound like the battery was weak or dead, (as I said, I have experience with that..) but I hooked it up to the charger anyway.
Came back, tried again, still nothing. That's the extent of my bright ideas, and I'd kind of like for it to work.
Anybody offer any helpful advice? Please?
I would super-appreciate it.
It has a shitty battery in it, so I have to jump or charge it occasionally, as I live in northern minnesota.
Last time I drove it, it started just fine, and ran fine. Parked it in the garage.
Didn't drive it for two days, went to start it. Didn't start. It tried, and it tried hard. Didn't sound like the battery was weak or dead, (as I said, I have experience with that..) but I hooked it up to the charger anyway.
Came back, tried again, still nothing. That's the extent of my bright ideas, and I'd kind of like for it to work.
Anybody offer any helpful advice? Please?
I would super-appreciate it.
Xaviar on
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I couldn't discern whether or not that's the case by your post.
All the accessories turn on. Headlights work. Dash lights work. Engine cranks. Doesn't start.
What you can do is grab a heavy wrench and bang on your starter, if it's not too inconvenient. In some of my cars you just have to move a few things away from the top, and then bang away at the starter solenoid. This is, of course, assuming you don't have some sort of goofy set up where your solenoid isn't attached the fender wall or something goofy where it's easily accessible.
He just said the engine cranks, so it's not the solenoid. Probably something in the ignition system, I'd check your plug wires and the ECU.
You can also buy a can of starter fluid and give a few squirts into your intake so see if it's a fuel line issue.
It hasn't been too cold here, so I don't think anything would have frozen up.
No spark could be a number of things. No gas is usually a relay or fuel pump (sometimes an ECU).
Yeah, next step is figuring out if you're getting spark.
The easiest way that I've always checked is quite different than pacbowl's, wherein you pull the wire and the plug out, and set the plug on the engine or on the side, whichever is more convenient, and then have someone turn it over.
You can also do a quick visual check if there's fuel squirting into the engine by taking a peek (once you move the sparkplug out of the way, and unplug it from the wire). You can also take a quick whiff after your buddy steps away from the car and smell if there's gas in the chamber, while you have it open.
I'll have to try messing with the spark plugs tomorrow. I was hoping to avoid that, as the one is a PAIN in the ass to get to.
did you try having someone jump the car?
just because you had it hooked up to a charger doesn't mean it can hold enough of one to provide the voltage needed to start it. If the acc work but reset every time you turn the key, and it starts right up when you have someone jump it with another car, I would say it's simply your battery.
Do you replace your air cleaner, fuel filter and spark plugs at the same time? Because if so, I'm willing to bet you want to throw a new set of plugs in her. Especially considering how you opined that you dislike accessing the sparkplugs, that's ringing warning bells in my head.