Weird Starting Problem....

[mrhotdog]

hey
tonight i left home to go to the shops, started fine. then from shops to servo, bit of a lagy start. servo to home = no power at all. after a few mins i barely had the interior light. tried jumpin it with a mates car and nothing, no cranks or anything. after a few more mins i had the dash lights (engine fuel) very dimm. tried again and nothing. got the tow rope out and got it home. as soon as i got it home it started first time. what could cause this?

[mrhotdog]

anybody....?

[vsl67]

Normally I would say your battery is on its way out but you tried jump starting it , check your earth leads or points where they bolt to the motor they may be loose or dirty and check your neutral safety switch
you could also check this by using a jumper cable and connecting it to the negative on the battery and connecting the other end directly to the motor

[mrhotdog]

thanks mate, i was thinkin dodgy battery as its been there as long as ive had the car and it looks shitty and old. where are the earth points and the safety switch? my workshop manual is MIA atm lol

[minimefx]

check the voltage on the bat. then start the car and check again should be at least 12volt before start and 13+ when running. if lower then 12volts before start check water and charge with charger or replace. if 13+volts when running? alternator is all good if not replace alernator.other checks if thats all ok then could be crank angle sensor.

[mrhotdog]

but that wouldnt explain why it goes from no power at all to full power in a matter of 10mins?

[minimefx]

if you can't start car and 10 mins later you can. problem is crank angle sensor. had the same thing on my vn, vr and vs.

[mrhotdog]

i thought the cas only stopped the crank, not kills everything. is it better to go genuine/second hand/after market for a cas?

[minimefx]

ingniton should still light up for crank angle sensor. if not then do the checks for battery or alternator problem.best to buy new then second hand with crank angle sensor.

[minimefx]

other checks is do a dionostic check for error codes.

[mrhotdog]

will do, thanks for the advice. ill check the codes etc in the next day or so and post back. might go for a fresh battery anyway..

[vt s]

could be alternator, heard of stories where they just throw out random power surges

[sircruisealotVS]

definately a new battery needed there man, just because it wouldnt jump start doesn't mean its not it.
the cells are probably all ****ed up in the battery and can't hold a charge when its hot.

[VR38]

Normally I would say your battery is on its way out but you tried jump starting it ,

My fathers Statesman was dead once (he uses the stereo when the car is off) and even the NRMA van could not jump start it the battery was dead.

[mrhotdog]

ok well ive been and got my battery tested and its all good according to the machine the guy hooked up to it. i gave the terminals a good clean with hot water and tightened them up, so ill see how it goes i guess..

[minimefx]

have you checked for error codes?

[mrhotdog]

update : i went to start it up first time since cleaning battery yesterday and there was nothing. then my mate is like "try it in N", did this and it started first time. went back to park and tried again and it started again. im now thinkin it might be that safety switch (dont know name) that stops it starting in gear? whats it called and how hard to replace?