1986 Golf 1.6 N/A Crank No Start

[shorttimer]

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Yeah! Multimeters are cheap, too

[scrounger]

My version of lead battery 101:

Let your battery charge over night. Make it push closer to 13.5-14v while on the charger. Each cell on a new battery will be about 2.2 volts fully charged, since you can not measure the voltage of each cell you should measure across the terminals, A good battery will usually be about 13.2 fully charged. After over night charging, take off the leads, let it sit for 15 minutes and measure the voltage. It should be about 13 volts. 12.6 is a sign of trouble.

If you hook your (4-15 amp) battery charger to a low but otherwise good battery it should accept nearly the maximum amperage of the charger for some time maybe 2 hours gradually reducing. If the amperage goes down to a trickle in 20 minutes the battery is shot. Probably has at least one bad cell.

If your battery charger is say 2 amps, a trickle charger, it is designed to be left on for long periods of time. Many of the newer chargers are considered smart. They have a voltage regulator in them similar to the one in the alternator, They cut out when the voltage gets up to full charge for a typical battery.

[jhax]

SUCCESS!! I bought myself a multimeter today, jump started the car and took it around the block and popped the hood. 14+V at idle. Unfortunately the belt slips horrendously under load (AC full blast, brights on, etc) and doesnt charge.

[8v-of-fury]

Told you. lol

New belt, and possibly some new pullies.. or at least dress those ones.

[jhax]

Oh happy day! I think ill let the battery charge up all the way tonight if I can, roommates arent too happy with my frivolous electric usage. Now that I havent driven in a while and taken free public transportation, i think Ill be driving my car less at least for a while until it starts getting around 100holy *** degrees again. That way I can save $45-50 a month and start collecting parts for my build. Thank you again guys for all of your help. Ill definitely stick around for a long time.

[ORCoaster]

new members get pink dresses on their pulleys.

[TylerDurden]

Congrats, jhax!

The alternator should be able to maintain ~14V under all loads, so some refinement may be in your future.

Keep us posted on any developments/results if you work on the pulleys, etc.

[TylerDurden]

P.S. To be more precise... the alternator should output ~14V under full load at typical operating speeds. It is common to drop voltage a bit at idle.

[jhax]

Ill get it squared away soon enough. One thing I have noticed though, when the engine is warm and I try to start the engine right up the new relay has a tendency to click several times before it starts. Not sue what thats about.

[ORCoaster]

Sounds like a loose wire some place that is allowing the circuit to trip on and off quickly.

[jhax]

Only while cranking though?

[ORCoaster]

Maybe the sender is the problem.  It is trying to tell the relay that the engine is cold rather than hot and now that you have a relay you can hear above the starter you notice it.  Lots of shaking going on under that hood on start-up you know.

[8v-of-fury]

'Ay matey, we still be on the scurvy path.

The side of the head, there is a coolant neck, in that coolant neck is a sensor. It likely has a female spade on it, unplug that. You will have to manually time out the glow-plug light, 10 seconds is usually enough for me up here in -10F.. so anything around there should be good.

See if the problem persists. If it does not, the sensor is bad. Get a new one.

[jhax]

G'yarr that be true, it be one thing after another. Oh well cant be as expensive as the ***ing alternator.

[jhax]

Okay seriously now...What the ***!?! Drive my car to and form class last night. Go to start it just now and the bastard doesnt even crank. It was running smooth, great, fantastic, no problems. And then all of a sudden, no crank AT ALL. What gives? My thoughts go straight to the ignition switch. I have battery voltage at the battery and the starter.