Tweet
I don't have a test light or another person to try to turn on/off the car to figure out the issue. I will be buying a test light soon. Last night I studied over the EVTM and today used it to try troubleshooting the start/ignition circuit. It's interesting because there's no troubleshoot for "no crank".
I'm suspecting battery, ignition wiring cluster, bad connection somewhere, possibly starter but doubtful imo.
Some background.. I've never had a starting issue or really any issue other than a fuel pump go bad. About a year ago I rebuilt a 1st gen B6, got it installed and everything was good except compression from pitting in the cylinder bores, which I expected since the pistons were rust-bonded to the engine. Fun rebuild none-the-less. I later found another b6 tow behind tracer, bought that engine because the car was banged up pretty good but the engine bay was pretty clean, figured it should be a good swap. A few months ago I got it installed and had some help from Skeeter but when we were ready to fire it wouldn't crank. We jumped it and got it running and ever since it has had an on/off issue with the starter. Sometimes it'll crank and most of the time it won't even pop the drive.
The few weeks before FM6 I was trying to make sure to drive it as much as possible to figure out if there were any issues. It would start sometimes and not start other times. Battery has always been strong, or so it's tested with the tester I have. Before FM6 it was 12.6-13+ volts and around 600 amps after 30+ minute drive to Skeeter's and it started at least 2-3 times that night. After FM6 I haven't driven it because I don't trust it. Tonight it was 12.7 volts and 400+ amp after a 1-2 minute drive and sitting at least an hour before checking. I might take the battery over to Advance and get it checked tomorrow.
I drove the car to Raleigh for FM6 and made it almost all the way back without any issues. It didn't start that morning, but started at least 6 consecutive times until we got back up to the border and we had to push start it twice after and took us a lot longer to get home than we would have liked. About an hour away from home it wouldn't restart and started having an overheating issue and when we were about 2 miles away from home we could hear the fuel relay clicking off/on. Downshifting seemed to negate the issue.
I've got 2 more starters and bench tested all 3, they all worked yesterday.
I've jumpered from battery + to S-terminal on the starter I switched in and it pops the drive in the car, yesterday.
I've gone through all the connectors by the battery and spritzed a touch of wd40 to make sure I had solid connections. While doing all of this I tried starting the car in between checking each connection to see if I could pin point it. No joy.
Then.. at one point, with ignition "on" the main relay would "whir" erratically. It started doing this after cleaning the fusible link box and underneath wiring and getting the starter to click faster like it was getting a little better connection. It hasn't done it since though..
Tonight I was talking to my dad (around 7:45) and I tried laying a screwdriver over from the battery cable on the solenoid to the S-terminal, it sparked, something inside the car started to humm (fuel pump maybe?) and the fan came on. The starter did nothing after the initial spark.
I'm saying all this crazy stuff so maybe it will help?? It doesn't make sense because once the car is bump started.. it runs and drives. I think there's an issue with the thermostat but other than that it drove great to Raleigh and most of the way back. I'm frustrated but I need to figure it out. I was trying to figure it out before this crazy FrankenSANDY storm..
any and all help is greatly appreciated.
I'm suspecting battery, ignition wiring cluster, bad connection somewhere, possibly starter but doubtful imo.
Some background.. I've never had a starting issue or really any issue other than a fuel pump go bad. About a year ago I rebuilt a 1st gen B6, got it installed and everything was good except compression from pitting in the cylinder bores, which I expected since the pistons were rust-bonded to the engine. Fun rebuild none-the-less. I later found another b6 tow behind tracer, bought that engine because the car was banged up pretty good but the engine bay was pretty clean, figured it should be a good swap. A few months ago I got it installed and had some help from Skeeter but when we were ready to fire it wouldn't crank. We jumped it and got it running and ever since it has had an on/off issue with the starter. Sometimes it'll crank and most of the time it won't even pop the drive.
The few weeks before FM6 I was trying to make sure to drive it as much as possible to figure out if there were any issues. It would start sometimes and not start other times. Battery has always been strong, or so it's tested with the tester I have. Before FM6 it was 12.6-13+ volts and around 600 amps after 30+ minute drive to Skeeter's and it started at least 2-3 times that night. After FM6 I haven't driven it because I don't trust it. Tonight it was 12.7 volts and 400+ amp after a 1-2 minute drive and sitting at least an hour before checking. I might take the battery over to Advance and get it checked tomorrow.
I drove the car to Raleigh for FM6 and made it almost all the way back without any issues. It didn't start that morning, but started at least 6 consecutive times until we got back up to the border and we had to push start it twice after and took us a lot longer to get home than we would have liked. About an hour away from home it wouldn't restart and started having an overheating issue and when we were about 2 miles away from home we could hear the fuel relay clicking off/on. Downshifting seemed to negate the issue.
I've got 2 more starters and bench tested all 3, they all worked yesterday.
I've jumpered from battery + to S-terminal on the starter I switched in and it pops the drive in the car, yesterday.
I've gone through all the connectors by the battery and spritzed a touch of wd40 to make sure I had solid connections. While doing all of this I tried starting the car in between checking each connection to see if I could pin point it. No joy.
Then.. at one point, with ignition "on" the main relay would "whir" erratically. It started doing this after cleaning the fusible link box and underneath wiring and getting the starter to click faster like it was getting a little better connection. It hasn't done it since though..
Tonight I was talking to my dad (around 7:45) and I tried laying a screwdriver over from the battery cable on the solenoid to the S-terminal, it sparked, something inside the car started to humm (fuel pump maybe?) and the fan came on. The starter did nothing after the initial spark.
I'm saying all this crazy stuff so maybe it will help?? It doesn't make sense because once the car is bump started.. it runs and drives. I think there's an issue with the thermostat but other than that it drove great to Raleigh and most of the way back. I'm frustrated but I need to figure it out. I was trying to figure it out before this crazy FrankenSANDY storm..
any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Comment