spencang

So I went for a drive today for about 45 minutes and on my way back home stopped to get gas. I started the car back up and drove about 1/4 mile to the pet store. I went in for about 10 minutes, came out and my car would not crank/turnover at all. I tried to jump start it and got the same result so it was towed home.

I drove it on Tuesday and I noticed at about 60 mph that I had not closed my hood all the way and wind was flowing in there ( I pulled over and closed it immediately). Could that have blown something loose or is it the starter?

944crazy

If it doesn't crank, not even on a jump start, it could a problem with the speed and reference sensors.

Best bet is to search the many no start threads and have a look through clark's garage so you can make a list of what it could be and then check those things on your car to narrow it down and find the problem.

spencang

Thanks. I have also had some electrical issues as of late. I had my engine rebuilt(long story), and my car was inactive for a year and a half during that fiasco/time. Ever since, my car just hasn't been the same.

I had a suggestion of checking the engine ground , but I'm having a hard time finding exactly where that would be located. BTW, the search function is not the best...

Tom M'Guinn

Do you mean you starter motor isn't rotating the motor when you turn the key? Or do you mean the motor just turns and turns with the starter but never starts up and runs on its own?

spencang

My starter motor isn't turning over. I turn the key and get silence.

Dave951

Step 1 would be to determine if the battery is indeed good. Once you have ruled out the battery then you can follow the procedure on clarks for testing the starter motor Found Here.

spencang

So I spent Friday going from the front to the back, checking as many grounds as I can find (just the obvious ones). I removed the starter and tested it and the solenoid and they are good. I cleaned the terminals on the starter as well, reconnected it, and the car started! So I went to bed...
Got up yesterday and went to start the car and back to square one, no crank again. Any ideas?

Dash01

Ignition switch dodgy?

spencang

I've never had issues with this in the past. Everything lights up when I turn the ignition.

Tom M'Guinn

There are multiple contacts in the switch, so still could be bad even though everything lights up. If the battery, cables, starter and solenoid are all good and yet nothing at all happens when you turn the switch, then the switch and its wiring are definitely worth checking.

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/elect-17.htm

spencang

I'm trying the alarm bypass first, then I'll go down this path. I don't have an ohm meter so the alarm bypass is faster to check and some other things that I have noticed over the past couple of months point to an alarm issue.

odonnell

Alarm cuts power to the DME if I remember right. It will still crank.

Replace the ignition switch and if need be, the battery. The ground between the negative battery cable and the firewall should be cleaned too.

Tom M'Guinn

Worth a try, especially if it's an aftermarket alarm. The Circuit City special the original owner put in my car used to confound me until I finally got it out of there and undid all their cringe-worthy Circuit City wiring...

In the meantime, go over to Frys and get yourself a good Fluke Multimeter and spend some time on youtube learning to use it. It's one of the most useful tools/skills you can learn with these cars.

KVDR

Is your starter heat shield installed?

spencang

Bypassed the alarm and it fired right up! It is the stock one made by Hella.

I know there are still some electrical issues with my car though. Now the central locking light is on and it doesn't work.

I'll check later in the week to see if it still fires up. I will have to wait til Friday because of my work schedule though.