Re: Car won't start

Posted by Bob Carabbio on June 20, 1997 at 17:04:25

In Reply to: Re: Car won't start
posted by DJ.Voyce on June 20, 1997 at 11:06:35

Sounds to me from your description of the incident that DJ hit it on the nose with corrosion on one of the electrical joints between the battery and the starter.With only 6 volts, very little corrosion will make a big difference.You had a weak bridge to begin with and when you hit the starter you blew the bridge out, and now have no connection.
Procedure:
Rip up the floorboards to get to the battery.
Turn the lights on
have somebody watch them
Jam a small screwdriver between the battery post and the cable clamp on each of the battery terminals.
If the lights come on, you have found the bad connection.
If they don't do the same with the ground cable to frame connection.
If that doesn't do it, try a single jumper cable between the battery Positive (frame connection) and the motor.
When you've found the problem, remove the connection, and sand the mating parts until they're bright.
Re-assemble with some anti-corrosive grease and tighten.
I'll bet the problem is related to the battery connections.
Paranthetically:
It's a good idea in general to install a heavy cable between the battery frame ground connection and the motor (like one of the starter bolts)just to eliminate a likely high resistance path through the motormounts and driveline.
Let us know what you found.

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