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No Start?

By Sonix, January 7, 2014



98 rolla was stuck in the NY storm last week, and I got it pulled out. The next day it wouldn't start so I called a jump service, and he said that there was shorting all around my distributor. I don't believe I have one because of the coils on the plugs, but when I asked him to use the key and try again, he declined. I just wanted to see the arching!

After he left I sprayed WD-40 to get the water to go away. It worked, but the next day it turns over, but wont start!

Any suggestions?

Btw, it's 3 degrees around here with the wind chill of -22.

Won't start as in the car will crank but not fire? Yeah, sounds like the guys was just guessing - similar thing happened to my wife, garage guys said it was the carburetor - on our 2009 Matrix.

Spraying WD-40 made it work - points me to moisture or even standing water in the plug wells. You have the distributor-less igniter coil and plug wire setup - pull the plug boots out and see if there is any water in there / any corrosion on the plugs.

Thanks, still sitting because of the cold!

pull the plug boots out and see if there is any water in there / any corrosion on the plugs.

Sounds like a plan, they were soaked and dripping, so was the battery! WD dried the coils and thats when it started. I drove it 50 miles with it starting ok. Is wd ok to use on the battery, if so I'll do it now.

 

Btw, any chance that the alternator is going up? It did start week, but that might be water that I haven't found yet.

I called a tow company early in the morning, and they called me back last night at 10PM. Must be the 40mph winds combined with 3 Degrees.

WD-40 should be fine to use - don't need a whole lot, just a little will displace the water. If you are worried about it - you can wipe the battery down afterwards. You'll just end up with nice shiny battery afterwards that sheds water. I winterize my old muscle cars with WD-40 - just hose down anything that isn't rubber or plastic. Even those will be fine, if you wipe up the excess.

Alternator should be OK - they generally don't just fail out of the blue. Double check the serpentine belt is in good shape - slipping belt will reduce how effective the alternator works. If your battery is marginal - might be a good idea to think of replacing it. Weaker the battery - the harder the alternator has to work to keep the electricals all fed with juice.

Belt is good to go, and battery is now dry. I might of stumbled on what might of happened. My neighbor noticed a yellowish stuff that has now melted, so that might of caused the whole fiasco. I think it's from the salt trucks, I had an inch and a half of it that coated the whole car. Never again!!!!

Battery 2 years old. I'll put a new belt in it, they are cheep and easy to install.

Btw, what are the signs that an alternator is going south. I'm still going to put new plus in her.

Thanks, so far, I always appreciate some hard to come by advice!

Not too many signs - assuming that the battery is good. Usually lights seem dimmer than usual (if you rev the engine, they get noticeably brighter), get the battery warning lamp on the dash, or notice an unusual sound under the hood (growling, chirping, ozone odor, electrical burning smell, etc.), to a weakened or dead battery. Its one of those things that will give you a fair amount of warning before it fails.

just get a voltmeter... compare it to a friend corolla at idle under same situation..the voltage should be 13 ++ during charge...

I'm not done with startagetton yet but for an update today it cranked fine and started on the second try. It will idle now too! So this afternoon I will replace the plugs, but it might be my imagination, I think I can smell a faint electrical burning smell. Or not. When determining if the belt is bad is it's tightness a symptom? If so it's ok and about 2 years old.

There are no shops willing to look at it because of all the people who just let their car sit until it got warmer, and I think the toe shops aren't answering the plans like the ones that ATT and State Farm sell! No batteries at all in Walmart and Advanced Auto.

If I get a hold of a volt meter how does that work. Measure (for values) without the car running, then again while running?

The odor might be the water getting dried out - also possible that it is shorting to ground through the water. Once the water completely dries out - should be good to go.

Serpentine should be pretty tight - it has the belt tensioner to keep the tension on it. Just verify that there is no physical damage to the belt - doesn't look glazed, missing the ribs, has the reinforcement thread popping out, etc.

Voltmeter - check the voltage on the battery before you crank it. Ideally, should be around 12.5V-12.9V at 20C (68F), but anything above 12.3V means the battery state of charge is atleast 50%, Voltage will also vary with ambient temps - but should be a small fraction (no more than a 1/2 volt delta).

if you can - check the voltage as you crank it - should not drop past (9-10V), if it does, battery is no good.

When idling - it should be around the 12.9-14.9V - though I like to see it above 13V - it varies from car to car.

Looks like I overreacted. Battery and alternator are both good! Today it started better than yesterday, I drove/charged if for a whole hour. A mechanic said it looked like the motor bay got doused with a lot of the road slush the highway department makes with it's chemicals to melt the ice on a road. And I am in fear of cleaning the motor to get rid of the rest of the yellow water.



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