Its been a long while since I posted on here but I've got some trouble starting so looking for some help please.

I disconnect the battery when not using the car so I go to reconnect and the car always fires up first time, no issue. Then if I turn it off and try again I do not get any dashboard lights or power, the only thing lit is the air temp on the ac panel. When I move the key to the starting position everything goes dead, as if the immobiliser is kicking in (an aftermarket cobra system). The battery is decent at 12.55 volts. When in position two it drops to 12.48 v then when I try to crank and everything goes dark then it rises back to 12.55v. I've connected another battery for good measure and that made no difference. Could the battery have a duff cell? It doesn't feel like starter motor issues as it fires up on the first go, but nothing after that. I have to disconnect the battery, leave it overnight and then it will work again the following day. Even if I just get the dash lights working on the first attempt then don't crank, if I try again its dead.

Any useful suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm trying to get her running for a local Jap show on Friday night!

Its a 1993 UK auto car.

Cheers

Nick

Hi Nick

I think the battery sounds knackered. Its not voltage you want to measure, but amperage, particualrly the cca value.

A lot of batteries seem to have a “last gasp” reserve to start the car when they are going flat or dying, but then wont start again unless they have been running(charging) for a while.

My bikes and Ultima suffer this if not left on trickle/saver, and once they go flat they never properly recover.

After replacing a few batteries, investing in some Optimates has paid off for me.

It “could” be starter if part of the winding is degraded. Or the immobiliser has developed a fault. But sounds like battery to me

Hi Craig,

I've got a battery on order as its a relatively cheap fix and easy to do. Lets hope its something as simple as this.

Nick

New battery fitted and the lights came back on!! Sadly it just cranked, fuel is getting through as I can smell it, and I can hear the fuel pump working. After 3 turns at cranking the dash lights no longer come back on and it goes dead, just like it did originally. I then have to disconnect the battery, recharge it and leave it overnight to try again.

Im just on a charge now but have a coil pack and plug out to see if there is a spark which I will try if I can get the dah lights to appear again!!

This is so frustrating!

When you say “3 turns at cranking”, is this a few seconds of cranking, or 20-30+ seconds at a time?

Running battery down after a few seconds would indicate a short somewhere, but if you are cranking a long time, then that would be expected to flatten battery.

Did you remove plug after cranking and see if it was getting fuel, but you do need the spark check.

Smelling fuel does not mean its going in, it may be a leaky pipe or a pressure regulator may have failed.

Need to confirm through some of the basics.

I crank for 5 to 6 secs, then stop which shouldn't be dropping the battery voltage that much so I'm thinking a dodgy earth somewhere. There is fuel getting through, plenty of it too as it reeks in the garage. There is also a nice healthy spark. I also removed the MAF sensor to see if it would go into limp mode and that made no difference.

And there is fuel at the plugs too.

What i have noticed today is that when cranking the climate control display switches off. What would make that happen? Dodgy earth? If the immobiliser was kicking in then i don't believe it would crank.

This is a frustrating z puzzle!!

Ive also pulled the ptu off to check that. According to my fluke I'm getting the following readings:

Pin 1 547 ohm

Pin 2 545 ohm

Pin 3 545 ohm

Pin 4 544 ohm

Pin 5 542 ohm

Pin 6 543 ohm

That's not as high as some articles mention on the web but they are consistent.

So I reconnected the PTU, put the battery on and it fired up. 😀 I ran it for a few minutes, turned it off and went to fire it up , and voila it fired up again. However, at the third time of asking it reverted back to form and wouldn't show any lights on the dash and refused to start. So its sitting their sulking again....

I am at a loss as to what to investigate next.

Get that alarm bypassed by the sounds of it you have an issue with it.