86 corolla has no power, wont start??

[bjamick]

Ok its got a new battery on it. I've checked a few things with my ohm meter but cant seem to find anything.

When I turn the key all the lights on the dash come on but as soon as I turn to start it the lights go off and nothing happens?? . This was happening before but it would usually catch and then crank with no problems. As it was running it ran like normal. But now the car will not do anything and it has 12 volts to the starter and 12 volts on the battery, and yet still nothing. Also when I turn the key to the on pos. Then try and turn the headlights on, the lights will go off then to. So that kinda confused me. I have no idea about electronics nor am I good at figuring wiring problems out.

So if anyone has any tips or anything let me know i'm kind of in a bind now ..

[Mr E]

.. have you checked out ur starter? Could be toast, had similar sound issues happen on a different vehicle..


Also.. it's an 86 Corolla... they didnt come with any real power anyways...

[4agetercel]

Stick, auto?? if its auto could be the neutral safety switch, if its stick maybe the clutch button... does your starter click? or is it dead in the water?

when the lights go out its does that normally even when the starter is working, its designed to cut power from almost everything so theres more juice going to the starter

[bjamick]

Its an auto FWD. Well the only reason im counting out the starter is bc this problem has happened before just the car would start after a sec. I mean I suppose I could beat on the starter today and see if the starter may be the problem. I'm just thinking its something else.

[4agetercel]

do you know how to manually jump a starter? stick a wire on the battery +, disconnect the little wire on the starter and connect the one going to the battery + there, if the starter doesnt kick over then its toast, dont go beating on it

[new echo owner]

Interesting problem, have you check the voltage difference between the battery to the body, and the battery to the engine. If you have poor ground between the engine and the battery, it would seek a ground path from somewhere else, like the body ground through other circuits. Other circuits will work fine but the starter require more current draw, hence dimming or killing all the lights and whatever. Once the engine has start, it will run fine since it doesn't require much current, but you might have dim lights especially when you step on the brakes accompanied by a drop in engine rpm.

Just my 2 cents worth of guessing! Good Luck,

N.E.O.

[4agetercel]

might have something there NEO, also i noticed on my AE92 GTS the connector that goes to the starter from the main harness, the trigger wire was really corroded and was preventing the starter to kick over as well

[bjamick]

Well I tried to jump the starter with a screw driver. One of the times the positive battery cable started bubbling and hissing. I would hear a click in the fuse box (im guessing the starter relay). But it still didn't want to start?

I tried to check the voltage at the ignition switch but couldn't find any wires that had any power to them.

I dunno how to check for bad grounds using a multimeter.

[new echo owner]

Jump the starter with a screw driver, how? Sounded like you had jumped it the wrong way and shorted the wire directly to ground if the cable is hissing and bubbling.

Red on the battery positive and Black on the engine, the body and the negative terminal, they should all pretty much the same if you have good connection.

N.E.O.

[new echo owner]

Ahh! Forgot about the other part!

Check the voltage between the negative terminal of the battery and the body,and the voltage between the negative terminal of the battery and the engine. Both should be close to zero, if you even have more than 0.5v reading, you have a poor connection from the battery.

N.C.O.

[bjamick]

Ok I took the starter off tonight and ran it up to an auto parts store to check it out. Well the starter seemed to work on their machine. So I checked the voltage at teh other connector on the starter while my friend was trying was turning the key like he was trying to start the car. The connector only had 8.7x volts or something like that. That seems a little low to me. So if I cant figure this out soon enough im just going to hook up a start button thats wired straight to the battery to the starter. Ill bet then it will start .

[89yotarollagts]

To me it sounds like you have bad grounds.. Take them off an scuff up the metal a bit to make sure they have a good connection.. Add more grounds ! u cant go wrong with having to many..