Mrmerlin

PLEASE read this very carefully and follow these steps then report back what you find.

I would guess that your ground strap isnt making a good connection.

Remove the battery terminals and clean every wire on the positive and the negative then put it back together,
also clean the ground strap connection under the tool tray. Then leave the ground disconnected to work on the hot post.

Also Slide the relay back onto its mounting pad thats next to the hatch lock as Ken said its for the wiper motor.

At the Hot post( just in front of the right hand cam tower on the fender well) with the battery disconnected remove the 11mm stud and clean these wires,

Then above the hot post is a 14 pin connector, pull it apart and clean the pins with an eraser plug it back and reconnect the hot post,

Then connect the battery.

Then take the multi meter and see what kind of current you have at the hot post, it should be the same as the battery.
NOTE measure from the hot post stud to ground.

Try to start the engine, if no start,

Then take a battery jumper cable and connect it to the negative battery terminal and the other end to one of the studs of the rear shock mounts try to start the engine.

NOTE with the battery cable attached also leave the cars ground cable attached to the tool tray mounting pad.

NOTE hold the pedal to the floor till the engine starts it may be flooded.

NOTE dont pump the pedal

Brian Lydon

ok, i'll do this and report back.

SQLGuy

This has not worked for me when the S4 flooded. Removing fuse 42 (fuel pump), though, and cranking for just a few seconds, cleared the flood nicely.

Brian Lydon

tried all of the above, no crank at all. what next?

SeanR

Move your key around in side the ignition switch. Move it up/down/in/out sideways etc. You might have a bad contact in there. Otherwise it is sounding like a neutral lock out switch on the transmission.

Landseer

Or, after trying what Sean suggested, the starter relay, located on the top row of the CE panel, center of the panel.
XIV.

Swap it with the horn relay ( if your horn works ).

Horn relay is XII, located physically adjacent, just to the left of the starter relay.


Move shift handle to neutral, also, to try it. Starter should work if handle is in neutral or park, via the lockout switch mentioned.

SQLGuy

Where are you located? Maybe someone can come over and take a look.

dr bob

The neutral safety switch wiring passes through the battery well area, and may have been disturbed as you messed with the jumper cables. Look for cable/harness connectors in the battery well area and under/around the spare tire well, and wiggle them to make sure they are seated and tight. This assumes that you are one of the 80+% of '85 owners who is blessed with the automatic transmission; manual trans cars don't have the neutral switch.

In the central electrics panel under the passengers floorboard forward, there's a starter relay that will click when the key is turned towards the start position. Can you hear it clicking as you cycle the ignition switch to 'start'? If no sound, look harder at that neutral safety switch and the wiring in the spare tire well. If you hear the clicking, look at the 14-pin connector on the bracket by the radiator at the right-side (passenger side on US cars) fender wall. The jump post is there, but the connection between the starter relay and the starter itself passes through that connector.


FWIW, the load from the lamps on one side should not run the relatively new battery to dead in a normal 8-hour workday. There's enough battery to run those lights overnight on the side of a German city street at your spare girlfriend's place, and still be able to start and get away cleanly in the morning.

Brian Lydon

how do you deactivate the anti theft w/o a second key?

SQLGuy

If you remove a lock, like from one of the doors, there is a switch attached to the end with a couple of small screws. If you remove that switch, you can manually move it to the "disarm" (unlocked) side.

I would think there's an easier way to do this, but this is one way I know of for sure.

Mrmerlin

if you take out the lock cylinder and remove the 2 small screws be very careful as there is a very small spring inside that will fall out and be gone forever,
best to put a towel down under the work area

Brian Lydon

Got the car started today. Thanks for all of the advice.

neilh

Brian, please tell us what you did to get it started !!!!!!

ender928

Merlin you mean connect the other negative to the stud correct not the positive end right?

Brian Lydon

I tapped ever so slightly on the starter while a buddy turned the key. Everything else checked out on the car, so i don't know why the starter got stuck. I bet I tried to start it 6 or 8 more times just to make sure everything was ok.