car wont start with battery removed!!

[Patrickenator]

right...but seriously, here iss the situation:

removed hood, stut brace and battery to prepare to replace some s*** a couple days ago; decided to seafoam today before takin real parts off. placed the battery back in and connected it. when i tried to start i got a bunch of fast clicks from what i think was the starter and then nothin. after several tries it doesn't even click anymore, but the dash lights, radio, door chime still work. Is it just that my battery is done or did i somehow kill the starter? (stock factory battery from 03...i know, i know - its on the list) i have never had issues starting with the battery before, but it was starting to corrode pretty bad at the terminal connections.

all ideas are greatly appreciated thanks fellas! and chicas!

-pat

 

[MSP-2003.5]

I'd say the battery. If you have a dc volt meter. Put it on there and check the volts, and then while you are still checking volts have someone try and start it up. I bet you have just enough power to illuminate everything but not enough juice to start

 

[mazdaspeedp]

try hitting the starter with a prybar

 

[Patrickenator]

need batteries for the voltmeter...betteris gaahh!! guess a walk down the street is in order. after a prybar smack lol. thx for the advice more in a bit

 

[SIBalla23]

Does the alarm indicator light, the little red light infront of the cluster blink continuously ?

 

[BOOSTR]

I thought I did good maxing out the OEM battery but you've beat me by a couple of years. Forget about voltmeter and get it load tested, its most like toast after all this time.

 

[Patrickenator]

no flashy light:i have the alarm disabled atm, having lost the key fob..

yea i know i need a new battery so i might as well just grab one on the way home from work tomorrow. I got the 9v battery but my phillips isn't small enough to take the voltmeter battery cover off. this is rediculous. new battery for tomorrow so that'll be nice.

 

[BOOSTR]

Good move. The battery in my car was from 09/02 so it did good lasting for 6 years. Your production date may be similar but still you did even better getting almost 8 years on the battery. That's got to be an MSP record.

 

[Patrickenator]

i think there might be a few other records of that nature that are going to shortly be remedied i think its pretty much all original right now. only 67k

 

[MSP-2003.5]

don't forget to take your battery w/you (core charge) and while you are there, pick up a small screwdriver and a 9 volt battery. volt meters are priceless

 

[Patrickenator]

yea i will be doing that too for sure. will need it for gauges at least

 

[Patrickenator]

update: load test took almost a full minute to come back as 'REPLACE!' so i was about to order the Advance Auto battery and asked the guy about their red-top prices. Turns out they're letting them go 50% off cause they were on the shelf for a week too long. I win!

hopefully that'll crank the bad boy back up

and yes, i also got the 9v and a precision driver set.

 

[Patrickenator]

so no luck on the battery. hooked it up; one loud click and then nothin...anyone have a second idea? i tried knocking the starter and rocking the car with it in gear to rule out dead spots in the starter...

 

[BOOSTR]

Give it up, its dead. Its old, tired and worn out.

 

[Patrickenator]

k nopw it caught...backed the camry up to try charging the new battery since it'd been on the shelf for 19 months, jumped in the msp to push it out the garage and for kicks turned the key and it cranked...corroded cables? they don't look too bad but did produce a lot of corrosion on the old battery

 

[Patrickenator]

lol boostr i was beginning to wonder tho

 

[BOOSTR]

I understand wanting to hold out. Mine would start dieing when I left it parked with the alarm on back in year 3, so the fact that it lasted as long as it did is impressive. Your experience is even more impressive.

Corrosion will draw power and run it down. But the load test does not lie or give false hope like a voltmeter. Make sure you get rid of it before putting in the new one.

 

[Patrickenator]

yea the old batt is still at auto-zone optima is gleaming - thats why i was so worried when it still wouldn't start

 

[03.5BlueMSP]

if you hear clicks the battery still has juice but not enough to turn the car over.
the clicking comes from the voltage clicking the solenoid on the starter side, but its not sending enough volts to actually rotate the starter.

when the starter goes bad it will be one continuous buzzing sound with no pauses.

a shelf-ed battery for 19 months may be on a low charge.

 

[Patrickenator]

yea they said it could need a jump, but it somehow caught on that third try!. thanks for sharing the knowledge, i will be keeping it all for later !