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OK, so Im taking my mom to work, and all of a sudden, the Bright lamp indicator and the right turn signal indicator illuminates. Then, when i signal to make a right turn, the signal blinks like one of the bulbs are out. then, i notice the headlights are dim...so, i turn them off, then on...they come bright, then dim, then bright. now, at that time, when i go to make a right turn and signal, the blinker blinks like it functions normally! It gets better!

Then, as I drop my mom off at work, I smell a burning smell coming from the engine compartment. I notice a beam of smoke around the headlights....It's not raining though, so i pop the hood, get out of the car, and notice the smoke, and the fan sounding like its losing power, then gaining power. I was scared, so i turned the car off. opened the hood, and noticed smoke coming from around the left headlight area. So i check it out, and all lights and everything checks out good. I turn on the headlights to see if they function, and they do....but, the right headlight went dim, then bright.

So i go to start the car.

turn it over, and a slow cranking, then silence. the car did not start.We thought the battery was dead, so we tried to jump it, and nothing. Finally, we got the mechanic at my moms job to check it, and he said it was the starter that burned out. So, we check the starter, and boom, it was burned. SO 170 dollars later, we have a new starter in. Go to crank the car, same as before, not starting, real slow cranking, then silence. We thought the starter shorted out the battery, so we tested the battery, and it was good.

My dad thinks it is a bad ground someplace, or a fuse is burned. He also thinks it could be the alternator. What do you guys think the problem is? We are stumped, so any response would be greatly appreciated.

Help me out guys!

John

sounds like you need to check yur grounds... if it was a bad alternator then your battery would have been dead.. check and make sure all your grounds are tight...

Would that headlight have anything to do with the grounds?


John

its either a alternator or a blown fuse.

If it was the alternator wouldnt the car just not be starting at all, or cranking over? I checked all the fuses none seem to be blown.

Damn, this is stumping me!

John

you might want to check the head light plugs. if you have after market lights with more than 65watts you might have melted the wiring harness.

check your grounds to the block and head...
Then check the wiring to the starter. If the starter fried it could have blown the fusible link in the harness on one of the small wires...

i had this same problem and its was the wire going from the alt to the starter i had to replace the wire with a 4gauge wire and run it directly to the batery. and it did the same thing the wire burnt the alt and the starter connections both had to be replaced

Something in your harness has gone to ground. Follow the smell...

Damn, this is seeming more complicated by the minute!

So I should check the wure going to the alt ant the starter, and check the grounds to the block and the head? Man, thats a lot of things. so far I spent 170 on a new starter, and the car still doesent wanna start. My dad was thinking the starter shorted out a wire going to the alternator. COuld that be the problem?

John

You have short to ground somewhere under your hood. Check everything. Look for black marks, melted plastic, use your nose and follow the smell of burnt rubber.
Test your battery while cranking the engine. Pull your alternator and have pops take you to have it tested. (Cheaper than replacement.) Check your fuse box under the dash. Pop your fuse box under the hood. Dig in. Your problem doesn't sound fun or easy but, you'll find it.

Checked the battery while cranking....battery is alright...damn, I never thought of the underdash fuse box, I only checked the underhood fuse box, all are okay.


I just have to look over all the wires under the hood then.


John

someone change the topic name :s

why? this is the firat time i have ever experienced this, and it is pissing me off because its not easy finding the problem..if its not one thing, its another!


John

don't get pissed. stay patient or you'll miss the problem. oh, and no beer in the driveway.....you'll find it.

grambo wrote:don't get pissed. stay patient or you'll miss the problem. oh, and no beer in the driveway.....you'll find it.

aww comon a nice couple beers a pack of ciggerates and a quarter ounce always fixed my car...

Urgh, adding in that quarter would leave me in the gutter drooling like a short-bus kid. I'll stick with beer and cancer sticks for the wrench time.
I can't handle that shit anymore, I played hard in High School and College. Plus I gotta' work on alot of High Voltage at work. I can't be all mooshy in the head on Mondays anymore.
Thgis poor dudes got a bit of work ahead of him though. Sucks. He may need the quarter when he's done!

UPDATED

Well, we found the problem, the fucking starter was DEFECTIVE! yes, the rebuilt starter we bought was defective! How do we know? we just happened to take out the starter to see if it would turn fast when connected to a 12 volt battery! turns out, that thing was slow, dud not turn fast at all! so, we will return it, and get a better one.


John

8082ndgen wrote:UPDATED

Well, we found the problem, the fucking starter was DEFECTIVE! yes, the rebuilt starter we bought was defective! How do we know? we just happened to take out the starter to see if it would turn fast when connected to a 12 volt battery! turns out, that thing was slow, dud not turn fast at all! so, we will return it, and get a better one.


John

after you drop that in toke it up !

the frickin place aint open until MONDAY! that means itll be together on monday...dumbasses, should of tested the starter first to see if it was actually good before selling it.


John

ok then toke that nice hawian bud through the weekend!...

haha, wish I could, but sadly, im too young to drink


John

dinetuner wrote:ok then toke that nice hawian bud through the weekend!...

'Tokin' the Hawaiian bud' has nothing to do with Budweiser.

LOL!


John

8082ndgen wrote:why? this is the firat time i have ever experienced this, and it is pissing me off because its not easy finding the problem..if its not one thing, its another!


John

Because the thread title should be a brief description of what the thread is about, not of much do you want people to read it.

Never thought about that, thanks for the suggestion.


John

UPDATED*

Well, we got the car running......now, the fucker is running like shit! Knocking all over the place, and the car never ran like that before. Rough Idle and everything....Im switching to 10w40 oil and see if that helps.

I hope I can get it running right.....I need it for school tomorrow! And, again, the car has NEVER RAN LIKE THIS BEFORE!

What do you think cuased the car to run like this? the car has been sitting for a week......


John

Hmmm. You may have smoked somethin' else with the bad starter wired into your system. Check for codes and troublshoot further that way. At least you will have some direction............

UPDATED*


Now, the electrical system is overcharging the battery! We replaced all of the major electrical system parts, battery, starter, alternator, now this! What do yu guys think is causing the overcharging of the battery?




John

I think it was my dad's tester, but thats just me.


We think there is a ground that shorted out when the starter fried. Could that be it?


John