Car won't start :-/

id search for jrichkers no start checklist. IM sure he would have posted it if he saw your post and im sure it will solve your problem.
good luck.

If it cranks and turns over its not the starter, Did you check for spark? if you have spark, then do you have fuel?? Why mess with the inertia switch?? that could be the problem. Cold alone is not going to make a car not start unless its 100 below and the oil is frozen. Do you have good gas in it?? check it out... let us know.:SNSign:

Fix the no crank problems first, then chase other rabbits after you have the car cranking good.

Here's a checklist:

Since some of the tests will bypass the safety interlocks, make sure that the car is in neutral and the parking brake is set. Becoming a pancake isn’t part of the repair process…

Check battery, terminal connections, ground, starter relay switch (also known as solenoid) and starter in that order.

A voltmeter is handy if you are familiar with how to use it to find bad connections. Measure the voltage drop across a connection: more than .5 volts across a connection indicates a problem.
See http://www.fluke.com/application_notes/automotive/circuit.asp?AGID=1&SID=103 for help


1.) Will the car start if it is jumped? Then clean battery terminals and check battery.

2.) Check the battery to engine block ground, and the ground behind the engine to the firewall.

3.) Jump the big terminals on the starter relay next to the battery with a screwdriver - watch out for the sparks! If the engine cranks, the starter and power wiring is good. The starter relay is also known as a starter solenoid.

4.) Then pull the small push on connector (red wire) off the starter relay (Looks like it is stuck on a screw). Then jump between the screw and the terminal that is connected to the battery. If it starts, the relay is good and your problem is in the rest of the circuit.

5.) Remember to check the ignition switch, neutral safety switch on auto trans and the clutch safety switch on manual trans cars. If they are good, then you have wiring problems. See http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d80195963.gif for 88-90 year cars .OR see http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d80195964.gif for 91-93 year cars. See http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/1d/db/3c/0900823d801ddb3c.jsp for 94-95 model cars.

6.) The starter may be hung, loosen up the bolts that hold it on, and give it a good whack with a big hammer. Tighten up the bolts and try again.

7.) If that doesn't work, use a jumper cable from the positive lead on the battery direct to the starter post where the big wire from the relay connects. If it cranks then, it is the power wire from the relay gone bad. This will be hard to do, since there isn't much room to do it.

8.) Pull the starter and take it to Autozone or Pep Boys and have them test it. Starter fails test, then replace it. If you got this far, the starter is probably bad.

No results when you jumped the battery?

The block ground at the front of the engine is clean, shiny & tight?

Are there any bulges in the battery cables? If so, that is hidden corrosion inside the cable. Bending a bulging cable will often cause it to split open, revealing the corrosion inside.

Do the voltmeter trick and measure voltage drops across the connections. Do it while trying to crank the engine. That's a lot easier than pulling the starter.

Check the cable connections by touching them while trying to crank. If you find a hot one, that connection is suspect.

If you have the battery cable terminals that clamp the wire, get rid of them. They are a problem waiting to happen.

Patrick, in addition to JRichker's wise advice a quick and dirty method of testing (after being super duper sure your jumper battery has amperage. Voltage reading kind of a poor indication of cranking amp capacity) is to: Put a jumper cable in parallel with various existing cables (be very careful and cognizant of the possibility of a short if you have the cable slip, etc). But parallel the connections (start with grounds first) and if it starts all of a sudden, the cable you are paralleling at the moment is suspect.

Do any cables get hot after you try and start it? An insufficient ground can cause no crank issues (been there and done that with a Porsche in Seattle. No cranking one minute and it would crank the next).
Jrichker will hook ya up.
Good luck.

just an idea, try to tap the solenoid, becareful, maybe you can use a screwdriver to tap to see if it'll crank,

If jumping the solenoid (across the big lugs) didnt work, the solenoid is not the issue right now (jumpin the big lugs effectively removes the solenoid's switching from the circuit).

If your fog light switch stops working, if you bridge the two terminals (accessory and source) and the lights dont come on, the switch is not at fault. Same thing with the solenoid.

If the battery is good and passes a load test:

Put a volt meter on the positive and negative battery terminals. You should read somewhere around 12 volts. When you crank the car, the volts shouldn't drop lower then 9.6 volts (range will vary due to outside temp, but shouldn't drop lower then 9 volts). This will show you if the starter is drawing more current then it should.

All other things on the car will probably work fine since they don't require as much amps as the starter does (if the battery was bad).



Fred

That sounds like an IAC or IAB whatever you want to call it. You might want to clean it out and see if that helps, because it sounds like it's sticking.

It's the cylinder "thing" by the throttle body...I'd shoot up a pic but I'm already running late for class. I'll post one when I get back if you don't know what I'm refering to.



Fred