My car doesn't seem to start., Please Help Options

[Eazy6G]

Hey guys, I've been trying to figure out why my car won't start for a few days now. I first came to realize it had a problem when I was driving in on the freeway and made my way to the lane right of me. When I did that the car just shut off completely lights and all. Tried turning it back on nothing. Open the hood and realized the battery cablel was loose and since I was close to my house already and didn't have tools to tighten it I just put it back and it turned on and drove off. Left it parked.

Next day I decide to take it out, I opened all the windows and sunroof (since it was hot) and open the hood to tighten the battery down and thats where the problems started. I tighten it fully but it wouldn't start nor would any lights go on (dash board or any lights). But if I would turn the negative cable to a certain side you would hear things go on. If i tighten it, it would go back to sending no current. You would only hear things go back on if i held onto the cable at that exact angle, if i slightly moved it, nothing would happen. And when I tighten it at one point it threw a whole bunch of sparks.

So here's the deal, I need to move this car, and all my windows are stuck open.

I have changed -

- Battery Terminals
-Fuses 100a, 60a, and either a 50a or a 40a. ( don't remember what they are right now, but i know one was for the alternator)
- Checked the other fuses and all seemed good
-Battery is new, and I tested the battery of another car as well and no luck

What should I check now? Are there any fuses that I might have skipped over and should double check? Could it be the alternator? Maybe the cables have gone bad?

Please help guys, I've tried the best I can but I know very little about this sort of stuff. Thank you ahead of time and appreciated.

and if it helps at all, I drive an 96 ST model.

This post has been edited by Eazy6G: Jun 20, 2011 - 4:58 AM

[trdproven]

your car turned back on, i was going to say timing belt - still could be if it eventually broke, open the cover and check.

can't be alternator preventing it, if you have a new battery, it would turn on regardless. I mean eventually it would drain if the alternator was bad but not prevent it from starting.

check fuel delivery and ignition spark, distributor, etc., some other thing in the tail end is the computer box. but thats something for later after you check these things. its gonna get complicated if there are serious electrical issues

This post has been edited by trdproven: Jun 20, 2011 - 5:24 AM

[Eazy6G]

Thanks alot for the respond. I'll give that a look once I head out in a bit. The timing belt could cause the car to not turn on electronics as well? I mean say I put it on the "On" position, the clock, radio, and no lights turn on, on the dash. Could that be due to the timing belt as well?

And on a side note, could the main relay be a cause as well? I know you didn't mention it, just figured I ask because I keep hearing about it.

[Eazy6G]

I also forgot to add, I tried to jump start the car, and it was as if no battery was connected at all.

[mak5603]

Sounds like a dead alternator to me.

[brenton1919]

Thanks alot for the respond. I'll give that a look once I head out in a bit. The timing belt could cause the car to not turn on electronics as well? I mean say I put it on the "On" position, the clock, radio, and no lights turn on, on the dash. Could that be due to the timing belt as well?

And on a side note, could the main relay be a cause as well? I know you didn't mention it, just figured I ask because I keep hearing about it.

check that efi relay they blow out real easy

[opie_7afe]

check the condition of your wires running from battery to starter and check the grounds, sometimes wires get corroded through the whole cable, go here http://bgbonline.celicatech.com/6g/ and look for the starting/charging wiring diagram and just check the main power/ground wires. also, a bad alternator will allow you to jumpstart but once you remove cables it will run shortly then die, but you say jumpstarting dont work so thats where i came to conclusion you might need to replace power/ground wires, also you can check efi fuse but i doubt that has anything to do with no power to anything, might be wise to get a multimeter and test voltage of battery then do same at other end of the battery cables. good luck

This post has been edited by opie_7afe: Jun 20, 2011 - 11:46 PM

[trdproven]

Sounds like a dead alternator to me.

a dead alternator won't prevent you from starting your car if you have a good battery. I've ran a car for a week without a working alternator before the battery drained out.

fuses/relay as well should be checked since its free and easy to check.

This post has been edited by trdproven: Jun 21, 2011 - 12:25 AM

[trdproven]

Thanks alot for the respond. I'll give that a look once I head out in a bit. The timing belt could cause the car to not turn on electronics as well? I mean say I put it on the "On" position, the clock, radio, and no lights turn on, on the dash. Could that be due to the timing belt as well?

And on a side note, could the main relay be a cause as well? I know you didn't mention it, just figured I ask because I keep hearing about it.

Oh... ON position only uses the battery basically, does not require cranking the motor, so just check it still just in case. but try the other stuff, seems like it is not a timing belt thing.

[m4dm4n]

You said earlier that everything turned on when you held the battery terminal at a particular angle, and also that sparks were thrown out when you tried to tighten it down. Sounds like a short somewhere to me... Especially since everything died again once you tightened down the terminal. The time it sparked when you tightened it - were you tightening the +ve terminal and accidentally shorted to the chassis or other gnd point somehow? I've done that before, almost crapped myself!

If your spanner didn't touch anything but the terminal then I reckon there has to be a bad power lead somewhere... grab a test light/multimeter and check for continuity. Electrical problems can sometimes be a nightmare to figure out so take your time, be patient and think it through.

[Eazy6G]

I think that might have been exactly what happened. I haven't had a chance to look at the car till today, heading out to go have a look at it right now. Sound's like you did the same as I did. I think I might have touched the chassis when I tighten the +. What you do to fix it?

And thanks everyone else, I''ll let you guys know what was the cause of the problem after i check out everything you guys have mentioned.

[stephen_lee]

id replace your grounds and +12v cable to your starter.