Chubbyfresh
Member
- Joined
- February 2, 2005
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Manchester, NH
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 93 xlt
So the other day I went to hop in my '93, and was dismayed to find that when i turned the key almost nothing happened. I got one half-hearted ding, and then everything just cut out. I noticed the dome light which was bright, had become dim. Now the car exhibited every symptom of having a almost totally dead battery. It would not crank at all, no lights, no stereo, I could hear the selenoid click in a strange way when I tried to crank it, but other than that - nothing. The Battery is less than a year old, and a quick voltage drop test revealed that it was fine.
I figured the problem was the pretty severly corroded positive battery cable that I've been meaning to replace finally did me in. Couldn't really be sure that the starter selenoid hadn't let go though, so I decided to just replace that ($9.00 at the local parts shop). First off I disconnected the negative lead to power down the car then I had to disconnect the positive lead (A large and small wire go to the selenoid - then the small wire goes to the starter and the largest wire goes straight from the positive terminal to the starter) from the starter, which pretty much requires removing the starter, so I decided to bring the starter with me to the parts shop to have it tested since it was out of the car. Next I removed the negative terminal. The wires look intimidating at first, but it's really not bad. There are 2 small wires that go to a sensor, mounted in the wheel well below the air box. and one wire that grounds out to the body. I also had one last wire that somebody had patched in for trailor lights. I removed the negative connection, and disconnected the smaller wires that went to the sensor and and body. You're going to want to remove the top of the air box so you can see what your doing (two bolts on the airbox, and a hose clamp down by the intake manifold). The large negative wire runs down to the frame, the bolt is easily accessible through the passengers wheel well. The bolt is towards the front near a bend in the plastic. Just muscle the plastic out of the way and loosen the bolt. The negative wire then bolts into the engine block. You can see this blot clearly through the cutout in the wheel well. Just get a long extention and back that thing out. This is where the negative line terminates, but there is a metal clip unit that holds the positive line away from the block that is attached to the block bolt. I found it's easiest to remove this metal clip (and the positive cable with it) through the hole in the wheel well. It's kind of akward, but it fits - wiggle it gently and don't force it out there are a bunch of other lines nearby that you could damage. That's it for the removel - you just pull all of the lines out that hole - again being careful that you don't snag them on anything important.
With the whole mess out I went to the parts shop (napa had in stock) and got new cables. I also had my starter tested. It was running, but the posts were loose and it was pulling 150amps (spec of 80) I opted for a new starter ($109 + Cables @ $50) The negative was a two piece unit one length went from the battery to the frame ground, then another went from the frame mount to the block ground. I had to buy a slightly longer bolt to fit the two wires, they were able to match it quickly at the local hardware store. I them simply put the wires back where I'd found them, neded a couple zip ties to hold the negative away from the exhaust manifold. You have to run the postive before you reinstall the portion of the negative wire that grounds to the engine because it goes in that metal clip.
To deal with all of the mess at the negative terminal I just cliped the ends off all the smaller wires and attached ring crimp connectors (onto the 2 wires from the sensor, and the 1 from the frame ground). Then i just put those 3 rings on the bolt that tighens the cable onto the battery. Sinch the nut in place nice and slug and the three wires are held in with good connection (I smeared a little dielectric grease on them to prevent corrosion). The positive wire is a little tricky because you have to remember where the wires go on the selenoid - but with a diagram, or a good memory this is a snap. To finish up I reinstalled the starter (I had to use another one of my trusty ring connectors crimp connectors because the small wire comes with the wrong connection for the starter! just clip it off and put on a crimp ring!) The cables are long enough so that you can connect them beside the car. Make sure they face toward the fatter cylinder of the starter or else they'll hit the exhaust manifold when you try to reinsitall. Once the starter is connected just I installed and the last wire guide. With the starter installed I cleaned the battery terminals with a wire terminal cleaner, scuffed up the inside of the new terminals a bit with the brush and put them on. The truck started up on the first try and runs strong.
I don't know which aspect was the problem, but replacing the whole mess is pretty cheap and is almost guarenteed to solve your problem (unless it's the ignition... doh). My total cost was about $170, and took me most of the day on Sunday (lots of parts store runs and breaks!). It's not a very elegant solution, but I find that just doing is sometimes easier than trying to figure out exactly what's going on.
Hope this helps for those who are diagnosis challenged.
I figured the problem was the pretty severly corroded positive battery cable that I've been meaning to replace finally did me in. Couldn't really be sure that the starter selenoid hadn't let go though, so I decided to just replace that ($9.00 at the local parts shop). First off I disconnected the negative lead to power down the car then I had to disconnect the positive lead (A large and small wire go to the selenoid - then the small wire goes to the starter and the largest wire goes straight from the positive terminal to the starter) from the starter, which pretty much requires removing the starter, so I decided to bring the starter with me to the parts shop to have it tested since it was out of the car. Next I removed the negative terminal. The wires look intimidating at first, but it's really not bad. There are 2 small wires that go to a sensor, mounted in the wheel well below the air box. and one wire that grounds out to the body. I also had one last wire that somebody had patched in for trailor lights. I removed the negative connection, and disconnected the smaller wires that went to the sensor and and body. You're going to want to remove the top of the air box so you can see what your doing (two bolts on the airbox, and a hose clamp down by the intake manifold). The large negative wire runs down to the frame, the bolt is easily accessible through the passengers wheel well. The bolt is towards the front near a bend in the plastic. Just muscle the plastic out of the way and loosen the bolt. The negative wire then bolts into the engine block. You can see this blot clearly through the cutout in the wheel well. Just get a long extention and back that thing out. This is where the negative line terminates, but there is a metal clip unit that holds the positive line away from the block that is attached to the block bolt. I found it's easiest to remove this metal clip (and the positive cable with it) through the hole in the wheel well. It's kind of akward, but it fits - wiggle it gently and don't force it out there are a bunch of other lines nearby that you could damage. That's it for the removel - you just pull all of the lines out that hole - again being careful that you don't snag them on anything important.
With the whole mess out I went to the parts shop (napa had in stock) and got new cables. I also had my starter tested. It was running, but the posts were loose and it was pulling 150amps (spec of 80) I opted for a new starter ($109 + Cables @ $50) The negative was a two piece unit one length went from the battery to the frame ground, then another went from the frame mount to the block ground. I had to buy a slightly longer bolt to fit the two wires, they were able to match it quickly at the local hardware store. I them simply put the wires back where I'd found them, neded a couple zip ties to hold the negative away from the exhaust manifold. You have to run the postive before you reinstall the portion of the negative wire that grounds to the engine because it goes in that metal clip.
To deal with all of the mess at the negative terminal I just cliped the ends off all the smaller wires and attached ring crimp connectors (onto the 2 wires from the sensor, and the 1 from the frame ground). Then i just put those 3 rings on the bolt that tighens the cable onto the battery. Sinch the nut in place nice and slug and the three wires are held in with good connection (I smeared a little dielectric grease on them to prevent corrosion). The positive wire is a little tricky because you have to remember where the wires go on the selenoid - but with a diagram, or a good memory this is a snap. To finish up I reinstalled the starter (I had to use another one of my trusty ring connectors crimp connectors because the small wire comes with the wrong connection for the starter! just clip it off and put on a crimp ring!) The cables are long enough so that you can connect them beside the car. Make sure they face toward the fatter cylinder of the starter or else they'll hit the exhaust manifold when you try to reinsitall. Once the starter is connected just I installed and the last wire guide. With the starter installed I cleaned the battery terminals with a wire terminal cleaner, scuffed up the inside of the new terminals a bit with the brush and put them on. The truck started up on the first try and runs strong.
I don't know which aspect was the problem, but replacing the whole mess is pretty cheap and is almost guarenteed to solve your problem (unless it's the ignition... doh). My total cost was about $170, and took me most of the day on Sunday (lots of parts store runs and breaks!). It's not a very elegant solution, but I find that just doing is sometimes easier than trying to figure out exactly what's going on.
Hope this helps for those who are diagnosis challenged.
