Thread: Starting car : WTF is going on?!

Ok... so the day before yesterday I dropped my son off at daycare. Starting the car was no issue at all at home. Now keep in mind that I have a VE starter and a 2 month old battery < DIEHARD >

I try to leave the day care... Car will not start. Everything works and no clicking trying to turn over. A/C lights... everything else is a go. I look at my scan gauge and it says my volts are 12.3V. I try to crank it again.. it drops to 11.2V. Turn the key back and take it out... 12.4V now.

Wife comes and jump starts my car and I'm off. I get to work.... no issues. Leave work... car starts up. Next morning car starts up... get to work.. car starts. Cranking volts were 12.4-12.5 volts. When car is running and moving 13.6-13.9V.

Now again... this A.M. same damn thing is going on. Now I'm stranded at home and car won't turn over. Same exact volt issue on start up.

Is something draining my battery? Could it be my alt? I have a amp but it has no power until the ignition is on. A/C is off on crank. No lights on.. just the radio comes on. And I can hear the fuel pump running so I'm getting fuel.

Here is a small video of what I am dealing with...

honestly, I'd check the stupid stuff with the wiring. Make sure the relays are all good, wiring intact, etc.

The first thing that came to my mind that will cause intermittent issues is a bad connection on the battery. The terminal could be dirty enough to restrict the amperage to the point where the starter won't run, but still allows enough for the ECU to power up and all the accessories. Getting a jump might have reconnected part of the connector back to the battery terminal until it was eventually shaken loose again. And, since the alternator will power everything while you're driving, you won't notice an issue until you try starting the car.

This just screams 'electrical gremlin' to me. Check all your wiring for corrosion, your relays for loose connections, your clutch switch for good contact, your starter for a solid connection to the pos. wire.

x2 on the battery terminals. Also make sure the engine ground from thermostat to chassis/battery is in good condition. You wouldn't believe how common this is. Poor connections in these areas cause your exact behavior.

To really be sure, next time it doesn't start take jumper cables and connect your engine block to the negative battery terminal and see if it starts right up. If it does, it's an engine ground issue.

AT or MT? I ask because my car did the same thing and I couldn't figure the **** out...

I checked my clutch pedal and the little plastic tab that pushes the switch when the clutch is in, was broken. I put a little washer in it's place to trip the switch...started like new.

Well come to find out... it was the ground to the block. Apparently it rattled it's self loose a little and got a little rust behind it. I went ahead and sanded it down and put some lock tight on it and WAM!!

Thanx for the info guys.

I'll just add you to the list of many. =]