Car starts when it wants to! Help! Options

[Por2geezcelica]

Hey guys, need your help with this problem im having. Currently my car is starting when it wants. This is what is happening: I turn the key and all the lights on the dash will dim and the starter will click once or twice, but wont do anything after. Sometimes when i bring the key back the lights will stay dim as if theres not enough voltage coming from the battery, and other times when i bring the kay back the lights will light up normally. This happened yesterday. I changed out the battery today and it started up fine, then later on in the day it did the same thing with the new battery so it isnt the battery. I changed the starter a few months ago, but im thinking this may be a starter problem since i believe it was a refurbished starter. The only thing is that sometimes when i bring the key back and am not trying to start it, the lights will stay dim as if the battery is not delivering enough voltage. Could a bad starter cause the lights to dim when not trying to start it?

I have narrowed it down to either the starter, maybe a bad ground point, or maybe the battery cables or the connection to the battery cable terminals? Let me know what you guys think.

[Por2geezcelica]

Im gonna check the cables and terminals and see if theres any corrosion on the cables.

Where are all the crucial ground points located? And how do i tell if it is a bad ground? Do i have to unbolt the ground wire and just clean up both surfaces?

[GriffGirl]

Im gonna check the cables and terminals and see if theres any corrosion on the cables.

Where are all the crucial ground points located? And how do i tell if it is a bad ground? Do i have to unbolt the ground wire and just clean up both surfaces?

Wait, so did you get your alternator checked, or not? Because I have to say, I completely agree with Lagos, it's a classic sign of a bad alternator. That clicking sound isn't your starter failing. Pull the alt and get it tested. You can even get it tested w/out pulling the alt, just drive your car to Autozone and they can at least check to see if you have weird fluctuation in power flow. That's also a sign of a bad alt. So are your dimming headlights.

There are a few ground wires you can check while you're looking at your connections. There's one that runs from the neg battery terminal to the chassis, right on the frame where the hood closes (it's literally like 6" from the battery). There's one from the neg to the top of your transmission as well; one on the strut tower, facing the battery (might be hard to see if you have stock intake); and there's also one on the right side of the engine bay (left when you're facing it of course) that runs from the motor itself to the right strut tower. It's kind of below the fuel rail, around on the firewall side of the motor. You can't miss it, it's a skinny crappy one with a plastic connector that joins the motor-side wire to the chassis-side wire. I had alternator issues about this time last year, and I believe when my alternator went kablooey, it fried this particular wire, including completely melting the POS plastic connector. I replaced the whole thing with a battery connector cable from Wal Mart.

Keep in mind that if it is your alternator going, out, that the odds that your battery is going to completely die on you increase dramatically. As you drive the car on a bad alternator, you're driving WAY more on battery power, and draining the battery. You should fully expect to replace your battery, probably within a week of replacing your alternator.