My car has had some no start issues in the past year, usually after sitting for a few weeks..

I have had some battery discharge issues (maybe a power leak?) and recently replaced the battery, I have disconected the ground after running each time as it usually does not see much action during the week...

After about 3 short trips (night drives with lights on) the new battery can still crank the engine pretty good but only puts out 11 to 12 volts. Maybe my alternator is going out?

Thanks,

Loren

 

Sounds likely. A voltage check at the jump-start terminal will tell you the truth in a few seconds.


For grins, make sure your alternator belt is intact and tight. The ribbed belt needs more tension than you might initially think. My rule of thumb on belt tension is exactly that-- Press on the belt with your thumb, and you should be able to get half a belt thickness or so in deflection. That isn't much with that thin ribbed belt. Many of us are driving old cars, but we forget that the belts are tired and need replacement on the same schedule that we use for the timing belts.

 

Hi Dr Bob,

I think the belt was a lot looser than you suggest it be...

For ****s, While doinf honey do (new father chores) I removed the alternator and took it to autozone... it tested fine

So the loose belt was probably one problem, but still no start.. so I figured out I had spark, but no ticks at the injector (stethscope) and no fuel pump prime...

So I swaped the LH relay with one I removed from the fuel pump a while back (thining it was going south)

The car starts!!! I guess it was this relay causing me intermittent problems for quite some time...

I also had a leaky (Interstate) battery (less than a month old) that I swaped a diehard in temporarily. So I will return the Interstate and use one of those.

Just thought I would be thorough and post my solution.. Maybe I will buy a couple of those relays to have around.

LO

 

RELAY RELAY RELAY

Since the 3 most important relays in the car are all the standard 253B relay....might as well change them...I did recently with my no-start fuel pump problems....

 

Loren, I can't tell by your posts where exactly the battery swap fit in with the relay swap, but I wouldn't be surprised if that leaky battery wasn't part or all of your problem. I've never experienced a car more sensitive to battery condition than the 928.

 

Batteries: A while back someone commented that the Autozone/DuraLast battery is the same size/shape/weight as the well-regarded Interstate, but with a better warranty and lower price. So when my 4yo NAPA battery (which also appears to be the same but for even more $$) began to show its age a bit, I bought the Duralast locally. Had to convince the parts-store guy to give me the newest rather than the oldest one in the rack, but otherwise it's been trouble-free for a couple-three years now. I do stick a maintainere on it when traveling for more than a week, but the car has also sat with no maintainer for several weeks with no starting problems at all. I have a permanenly-wired molex-type plug and pigtail tucked into the RF fender lip, so the connector just shows at the front corner of the apron when the hood is open. Maintainer plugs in there, and thge hood sits open just a bit on the latch only. Connector is all but invisible unless it's in use, and it can be removed without leaving any damage to the car.

 

Hi Bob and Charlie...

hehe my post is a bit confusing...

My car would not start which has been a kind of intermittent problem the last year or so. I kind of suspected my battery but it was only a month old. It had 12.6 V at the terminals which is maybe a tad low?

So I had a die hard that I exchanged at sears... so it was new... the die hard ones seemed to not do as well as my previous interstate.. I though i was being smart by proactively swapping it for the die hard...

When I swapped the die hard for the suspect 1 month old interstate. I did not notice right away that the interstate had some chalky white stuff on it and some drop of fluid (the fluid does not appear to dry up?)

At the same time I pulled the alternator (about a year old rebuilt bosch) and had it tested at autozone as when I saw the leaky battery I thought maybe it was overcharging and did not want to risk the new battery. It tested fine.

when removing I did notice thatthe belt was a bit looser than bob recommends... so when refitting it I tightened it real good... I do think that this was a slight problem that was slowly ruining my battery...

Then I put the new die hard battery in and again no start... I noticed no fuel priming on ignition...

I tested spark and found it... I tested with a stethoscope and did not hear anthing at the injector...

So I read a bit and decided to try the LH relay.. The fuel pump and O2 sensor relay was replaced a couple of months ago and I thought this may have fixed my problem. Luckily I kept the spare relay and yesterday I swapped it out for the LH relay...

Boom the car started!!!

Though I agree the leaky battery may have also confounded things... but i am pretty sure that LH relay was causing me some grief for some time... I am going to exchange the battery this week...

Thanks for you thoughts...

Here is a good link on 85-86 no start... there is some good info on LH testing

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ing+fuel+spark

Loren Olson

 

What a sweet sound, that allows you to begin breathing again, as you crank the ignition. Let's hope she's back on the road for good.