2.8 88 v6. Started just fine last night, its very cold out. Car was plugged in all night. Go to start it this morning...no engine cranking over, just a clicking sound...is my battery dead?
Did it try to crank and then start clicking? Or just clicking from the go? Former is probably low battery, later could be low battery, or start solenoid having problems when too cold.
The starter is brand new, had it put in months ago. Battery is older, but its an optima...and i ran the car last night, volt gauge was nice and full last night... when i turn the electricity on now...my volt guage reads low into the red...i cant remember if it tried to start or just immediantly went to clicks...i think if it tried to start, it was like ONE rev, then clicks
Optima batteries were awesome, they haven't been awesome in many, many years. Their spiral cell technology turns out to be more of a gimmick than an actual better technology, and plenty of AGM batteries have appeared in the last decade or so which offer much better performance and longer lifepans.
Is it possible that it might be my alternator? I find it wrong that when i have my headlights on at night and im at a stop light (so my brake lights are on) and i wanna turn my heat up all the way, my volt gauge goes all screwy, it drops around 12 volts as per the gauge and revs according to the rpm's of my idle, almost like i have a second tach gauge.
Randomly...when i turn my car on in the morning (when its working) it will turn on, (cranks like 1-2 times and starts) if i dont hit the gas and dont touch anything, the engine rpm will wanna drop and almost stall out...sometimes it stalls and i have to start it again and give it some gas to STAY idling....sometimes it almost stalls out...then the rpm climbs back up itself and idles normally...what could cause that?
So a bad regulator in an alternator is fixed by simply replacing the whole alternator yeah?
Any way this can be related to my no start issue?
In a nut shell; Your alternator supplies power for all things electrical. Your battery starts the car and that’s about it. If your alternator isn’t doing its job of supplying power, then power starts to be drawn from your battery to make up for it. Do this enough times or for an extended period of time and your battery will die. When you got home last night your battery may have been somewhat discharged. Then let it sit out in the freezing cold overnight and there’s a good chance it’ll be dead when you go to start it. If you replace the battery and it’s the alternator then it will happen all over again. Check your grounds, battery cables, connections and have your alternator checked, most places will do it for free. Not saying your battery isn’t bad, but if you’re not sure then there’s no point in replacing one, if it’s the other causing the problem. Your just throwing money away and neither one is cheap.
Hey guys, thanks everyone for your help, just one more question!
I got home and boosted the car, car came to life again with little effort...volt gauge was right where it should be, maybe a tad higher bcc of the boost...i disconected the boost car from my fiero, and the car stayed running, alternator seemed to be charging it just fine, i ran it for about 5 min, popped my headlights, worked my fan...everything seemed good.
(Only weird thing was my car was beeping...like not "beep beep beep" but "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" a steady tone that seemed to be coming from the front of the car behind the stereo. (wasnt the stereo though bcc i havnt installed it yet) Any idea what that could be? It was loud when i had my fan going full blast...then it seemed to cut in and out like a squeeky belt, then it came back, then dissapeared and i couldnt get it to do it again.)
Anyways, shut the car off....turned the key to start her again...and boom....same issue, click click click....and the volt gauge was in the red....bad battery??? My connections to the battery are nice and tight btw.
So here are my questions...
1) Is that a bad battery? 2) any idea what that steady tone sound was? (i dont have the blue dingy box) 3) I had my heater blowing at the level right before full blast, when i turned the knob to full blast?....the fan cut out completley......then i heard a click.....then it came on full blast (after like 3-5 seconds) i then turned the fan off and on and back to full blast and there was no delay, and i couldnt replicate it again....what the heck does that suggest???
again thank you everyone for your help! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.
I would recommend having your battery tested. How old is it?
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Originally posted by Dodgerunner:
I "good" quality battery will fail that way. Working one time dead the next. They should not slowly die. Have it checked.
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Originally posted by jaskispyder:
I have had 1 year old batteries give me problems... take it in and have it tested.
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Originally posted by Neils88:
Likely a bad battery. You should also check for small parasitic drains on the battery, such as interior lights left on.
Maybe you should have the battery checked... Canadian Tire will load test it.
If you have another battery available, swap it in & check the voltage at the battery before the engine is running, then when the engine is running. That'll give you a good idea if the alternator is ok.
Canadian tire is retarted, "professional" mechanics now a days are AFRAID of older cars...i had to CONVINCE them last time i was there to check my ignition timing...what a joke...they see an old car pull in and there response is "im not willing to get into that" thats why i rely so heavily on this forum to do it myself.
Canadian tire is retarted, "professional" mechanics now a days are AFRAID of older cars...i had to CONVINCE them last time i was there to check my ignition timing...what a joke...they see an old car pull in and there response is "im not willing to get into that" thats why i rely so heavily on this forum to do it myself.
Canadian Tire will load test it. 
