medipedicman

I pulled the pod Friday and had problems with the ignition switch. Finally fixed that (or so I thought) on the test drive I had a new noise on passenger side under hood. I took a quick trip around the block to test turn signal return and when I got back to the garage I shut it down but turned the key back on and heard the noise again. It was late and I was tired so when I went back to work on it today I pulled the air box to get a better view. As soon as I turned the key to first position the starter began clicking. I did not try to turn the engine over but in all of the on off on off now I have nothing-not even dash lights. I pulled the ground and went to the manual. The starter looks pretty straight forward but what might cause the problem to begin with..
I dont want to buy a new/used starter only to have the same problem.

Any experience with this?? Anything to check for??

sorry so long.

Big Dave

Are you sure your battery is fully charged? A starter that only clicks, combined with the lack of any dash lights, sounds like a classic nearly-dead battery situation.

Alan

Just charge the battery = classic symptoms... evaluate why afterwards...

Alan

Mrmerlin

is it possible the strter switch could be bad?? Did you mess with the starter? There are 2 different small wire connections and could they have gottem switched? ( althought I believe the small wire has a certain size tip so it may not fit on the bigger of the 2 small hookups)

medipedicman

Thank you to all who responded. The battery was on a charger yesterday. The noise existed prior to and after charging. I may have been hastey in blaming the starter. A local friend advised me to check the relay for the starter. I pulled the relay, visually inspected, put back in , hooked up ground and all the dash lights worked and the same noise. BUT this morning I thought I would pull the relay out and see if the noise still existed. With the relay out and ground hooked back up the noise still existed. Does this mean it is not the starter?? I have not tried to start the car since friday.

Alan or Big Dave - I went down to check the charge and had only 10 v . When I hooked it up yesterday it had between 12 and 14 (higher than I have ever seen it). Do I have a drain somewhere?? It seems strange that my battery would loose power when ungrounded.?.?

I have pulled battery and plan on replacing it today. Interstate 72 month battery. I could not find a date on it.

Tails

To ascertain the charge of a battery you should let it rest for around 24 hours after charging and if it fully charged the reading should be around 12.8 volts depending on the ambient temperature. If the voltage is around 10 volts it is an indication of bad cell/s

One of the best and quickest methods to check the condition of the battery is to measure its specific gravity by a battery hydrometer. Usually the specific gravity is adequately displayed in three zones relating to the state of charge, red - bad, white - fair and green - good. You should check each cell, if possible, and the hyrometer will indicate a bad cell/s if any. To do a good specific gravity test the battery should also be allow to rest so that each cell obtains equilibrium.

Unfortunately there are a lot of maintenace free battery around today that don't allow you to check the specific gravity. They are usually fitted with a little spy lens that indicates the condition of the charge, but this only measures one cell.

There is a more positive test and that is to check it Cold Cranking capability of the battery, however, this require a specific resistance to be put in circuit with the battery for a specific time (this depends on the size of the battery) and the voltage drop measured. This is usually done by a reputable battery shop with specalised equipment.

From what you have described, that after letting you battery rest after charging the voltage was 10 volts? When the voltage is down to this level, the power from the battery is insufficient to turn the engine over and the starter solenoid clicks "in and out" as the voltage is insufficient to hold in the solenoid coil against the tension of the throw out spring.

At this juncture I would recommend that you take you battery to a reputable battery outlet and get them to check it out correctly, as you may have a dead cell or cells and could require a replacement.

Tails 1990 928S4 Auto.

Alan

Start by replacing the battery - I think all your problems will be gone...

Alan

medipedicman

Thanks Alan- I had just enough time to buy one this morning and install before going to work. Same noise, same intensity. Next step from Dave Roberts is to disconnect one wire from starter and see if noise is still there. I would love to just replace the starter and have it all go away. The pod work that I did this weekend still troubles me. I am not that smart(obviously) but it really should not have been as hard as i made it. The car ran like a freakin top prior to my turn signal swap. Is there some wiring to the ignition switch that could be in a bind and cause a steady signal to the starter?? If I recall correctly this noise was there friday night and the car still turned over and ran 5-8 minutes b4 I shut her down

Alan

OK - lets go right back to this - what exactly happens...?

What you said is ignition key in "first" position... do you mean accesssory position? I'm led to believe you haven't tried to start the car at the time you get this noise?

Why do you think its the starter again...? this seems like jumping to a non-obvious conclusion...?

If its really the accessory position that causes the noise I'd check the X-Bus components for operation (brake lights, sunroof, cigar lighter, wipers.

Will the car start? do the instrument lights still dim significantly (as in dim to out) when you try to start?

Alan

medipedicman

Alan, thank you very much for the questions. Right now(im in the garage) the car does not start. Now is the first time I have tried to start it since friday. With the key in the first position (acces) all lights now come on. Brand new battery. In the first position the noise eminates from the starter area. I now have it on jack stands and am going to disconect the starter ground then test to see if that eliminates the noise. testing now

medipedicman

This pc is the culprit. I am trying to identify it now. Is it the blow off switching valve?? I am poring through the pages now.

ZEUS+

That is the diverter valve for the air injection system. It is vacuum controlled, not electrical. Starter is on the other side of engine, down below.

medipedicman

Thanks Zeus- any ideas as to why it would eminate a loud clicking sound similar to a faulty starter?? Or better yet any ideas on how to make it stop making that sound???

Would that by itself prevent the car from starting??

medipedicman

Does that vacum line run from/to the throttle body???

ZEUS+

Are you sure that is making the noise ? The only moving part it has is a rubber diaphragm and it needs vacuum. Engine off=no vacuum. No, it will not cause a no start.. Maybe you should start looking in the area where repairs were done before this condition was present.