dreaded clicking sound

[jbturgeon]

hello, i am experiencing a dreaded clicking sound from my starter and its relay. It is not cranking at all. I am wondering if my starter is dying? I recently changed my alternator. My battery indicate 11.88 volts when i test it at the poles. Last night, it started doing that weird oil and battery lights on when my car was idling. My lights were dimming as well. Can my alternator be wrong? It is a 90 amp.

Should i buy a new starter?

pls help!!

[theman53]

before shelling out the cash for the starter, put on some huge battery cables and clean up the grounds. I used 2/0 cable on my last rabbit and ran a 4 gauge cable from the bellhousing to the valve cover stud. The starter was trashed, but it started better. What happens is the ground needs a great connection and we have an ok one from the factory, but after 20 years things happen.  The plus to this is even if your starter has had it, you won't be losing anything to doing this first. You can do it at the same time it won't hurt that way either.

[dieselweasel]

hello, i am experiencing a dreaded clicking sound from my starter and its relay. It is not cranking at all. I am wondering if my starter is dying? I recently changed my alternator. My battery indicate 11.88 volts when i test it at the poles. Last night, it started doing that weird oil and battery lights on when my car was idling. My lights were dimming as well. Can my alternator be wrong? It is a 90 amp.

Should i buy a new starter?

pls help!!

I read your other post.  At 11.88 V, your battery is DEAD...no way the engine will crank with that.  You should have approx. 12.6 V like Vince said.  It sounds like you have a bad alternator, bad battery, or poor connection(s).  If the alternator is only putting out 12 V, that's not nearly enough.  A shorted battery can pull down the charging voltage so it would be a good idea to get it load tested before going further.  As a rule of thumb, all electrical diagnostics *should* begin with a battery test and inspection.  If the battery is ok then chances are the alternator or connections are bad.

[jtanguay]

i agree with the above posts.  i let my battery drain once, and some kid with a craptacular car (cavalier with a dinky battery) tried to boost my car, but it just clicked.  they said my starter was toast but i kept telling them its a diesel and it requires a ton of juice. a friend with a nice 900 CCA battery came by, and it fired up on the first crank.  i bought an 800 CCA battery for it and started GREAT after that.  c-tire battery's are pretty low quality too.  i would advise against purchasing them unless they were considerably discounted.

[burn_your_money]

C-tire battery's are pretty low quality too.

Where do you get this info from?

[jtanguay]

C-tire battery's are pretty low quality too.

Where do you get this info from?

my brother works for a battery company and knows who supplies them.  they don't put enough calcium in the batteries.  if you let a c-tire battery sit for 4-5 months, the charge should drop considerably... a battery i got from my brother held its charge for at least that, and after a year it was still good.

[Vincent Waldon]

C-tire battery's are pretty low quality too.

Where do you get this info from?

Every year in the fall the Canadian version of Consumer Reports magazine does a review of car batteries (and winter tires!), and the "Energizer" series from CT is always down near the very bottom.

At least, the last few times I looked.   :wink:

It's weird, because there are really only three battery manufacturers left in the world... and everyone supplies OEM to everyone else... kinda like oil filters.... so they should all kinda be the same.. yet somehow CT's brand always did poorly.

Perhaps the calcium is the difference.

[dieselweasel]

my brother works for a battery company and knows who supplies them.  they don't put enough calcium in the batteries.  if you let a c-tire battery sit for 4-5 months, the charge should drop considerably... a battery i got from my brother held its charge for at least that, and after a year it was still good.

I can attest to this.  Put a Motomaster Eliminator battery in my Golf in the fall of '07.  Battery worked fine during the winter.  Parked the car in May of '08.  I usually started up the engine every week or 2 to let it run for a while, and found that after only a month or two of sitting the battery was dead and required a charge to start the engine.  Ok I suppose since the cd player and instrument cluster draw some power with the ignition off.  I then drove the car ~85 km, removed the battery from the car for good and found that even after several hours of charging, it will not hold 12.6 V.  It is down around 12.3 V.  Will be taking this battery back before the 3 yr warranty expires...  It's not like I let this battery sit dead for months...wouldn't think it would be sulphated.