New Battery - Strange starting issue

[jamo96]

Hi all

My old battery was on its last legs for awhile... I was reviving it occasionally with the charger. Anyway it finally died on Friday night. It wouldn't turn over at all. It would just make to clicking sound from the solenoid I assumed. It wouldn't take any charge from the charger either. I bought a new battery and slapped it in and it still did the clicking noise and the engine wouldn't turn over (the first attempt anyway) on second or third try it turned over and started. Now it seems to refuse to turn over at all on the first turn of the key. I am just wondering what the issue may be here? Have I killed something by trying to start it repeatedly with a flat battery. I also did not clean the contacts when I switched the battery, although they didn't look too bad.

Any help would be appreciated.

Vehicle: VU Commodore Ute.

Cheers

 

[Sabbath']

Get somebody to tap the starter while you turn the key. Might be an issue with the starter itself.


Sent from here, so you can read it there. via iPhone.

 

[ari666]

tighten the bolts

 

[vrsprspt]

Is it an auto? There is a thread on here somewhere about the neutral lockout switch (is that what they are called?) in autos that tells the ECU/BCM, what ever controls the starting of your car, where the selector is positioned. If this switch is making a correct contact internally, it can make your car hard to start like your problem. Had similar problem with my VR SS, found said thread and fixed the problem up in no time. Unsure if VR and VU are same but might point you in the right direction at least

 

[jamo96]

Is it an auto? There is a thread on here somewhere about the neutral lockout switch (is that what they are called?) in autos that tells the ECU/BCM, what ever controls the starting of your car, where the selector is positioned. If this switch is making a correct contact internally, it can make your car hard to start like your problem. Had similar problem with my VR SS, found said thread and fixed the problem up in no time. Unsure if VR and VU are same but might point you in the right direction at least

Yes in fact vehicle is an auto. I'll have to have a look around for the thread.

Thanks

 

[_R_J_K_]

If it's not the starter, you've probably got a power leak somewhere that's shorting or wearing the battery down. This sounds more like shorting though, so maybe move the pos and neg cables around a bit as it sounds like the problem got worse when you changed the battery.

I've had a similar problem before where everything electric worked, but it could only be started by jumping or push starting it, we thought it was the starter but it turned out the battery was cactus.

 

[jamo96]

If it's not the starter, you've probably got a power leak somewhere that's shorting or wearing the battery down. This sounds more like shorting though, so maybe move the pos and neg cables around a bit as it sounds like the problem got worse when you changed the battery.

I've had a similar problem before where everything electric worked, but it could only be started by jumping or push starting it, we thought it was the starter but it turned out the battery was cactus.

Any simple way to test for a leak in the circuit?

 

[ari666]

dont worry about the neutral switch, if its clicking then the switch is fine.

on the back of the starter is a big nut, prolly 14mm. tighten it up, then tighten up the power wire on the alternator, then tighten up the battery bolts.

start there then report back once those three have been checked.

 

[_R_J_K_]

Get your multimeter and set it to amps, unhook the neg terminal and put one lead on the terminal and the other on the neg cable or body and measure. A small drain is normal for things like clocks and security etc...

Google parasitic drain, there's a lot of in depth stuff about it.

I still think it sounds like a shorting issue, so maybe run over all your battery and alternator cabling.

 

[jamo96]

dont worry about the neutral switch, if its clicking then the switch is fine.

on the back of the starter is a big nut, prolly 14mm. tighten it up, then tighten up the power wire on the alternator, then tighten up the battery bolts.

start there then report back once those three have been checked.

Thanks will do