My car will start but wont run.

The battery is dead,but cranks a bit.

92 SC300 auto,


I put a battery in my car 2 weeks ago and yesterday it started to turnover slower than usual,its dying after 2 weeks of driving.The battery is optima yellow top,but its been sitting in my garage for 2 years.I got it recharged and put it in my car and everything was fine,untill now.

It died at a stop light this morning,so i got a jump and it took me to work.After work i'm thinking it will take me home at least after a jump,but no

It turns over runs for about 2 seconds and dies.I tried to give it some gas but it wont run still.

Everyone tells me its the alternator,but i wanted to make sure it is.

If it is, how hard is it to change it? My skills are past oil change plugs and head retorque on 7mge(lol)

Please help,i need to get it running ASAP.

Thanks fellas.

 

yea its your alternator, and if its not it could be a ground wire (large one). your battery shouldn't be used much while driving, it should be using most of the output from the alternator and the rest of the alternator output should be charging your battery. You could have got a bad new battery but its not likely.

 

Thanks for a fast reply,

Here are more clues i didnt mention.

I ran the battery to the trunk area with 4 gauge wire,and grounded it to one of the bolts that are holding the fuel tank(is that stupid?).It could be a ground wire not getting enough power?

The Optima battery is not new, i used it for few years then it was sitting in the garage for a few years.I'm taking a new battery to work with me to check it out.Hopefully its not the alternator

EDIT

BTW my battery light is not on nor blinking ,so could it be that its not my alternator? Did a search,and yes i have some oil under my distributor cap.

So if its my alternator ,wouldnt my battery light come on?

 

The alternator died on my wifes SC300 and the battery light never came on. It is not that hard to replace.

 

why don't you check the voltage of the battery? I know it wont say if it will hold a charge or not, but good place to start looking for answers. If you do get the car on and running check the voltage again. You should know that the voltage should go up once the car is on and running. If it's not then you go get your alternator tested. If you think you are having a grounding problem. Use another 4-8 gauge cable and find a temporary ground and connect it there. If your car all of sudden turns on... well maybe you should ground it somewhere else or find a better ground. I ran my ground under the spare tire and I made sure to have plenty of surface contact. Good luck hope this helps you.

 

Thank you guys for the answers so far,still no progress.

I put in a new battery in the morning and fired it up,it ran without dying.So i thought i'l drive it home after work finally........after work it did the same thing again

The battery has plenty of charge,so it cant be the battery.But if so, could the car run at least a little bit off of the battery untill it is dead,or no matter what, it wont run if the alternator is bad?

I'm leaning towards the distributor ,maybe its full of oil? Does oil go inside of dist. when the o-ring is leaking?



I miss my car

 

did you check the voltages while it was off and on?

 

I dont have a volt meter but i will get it this weekend and check the voltage.
I'l put the battery back up front to see if relocating the battery caused the problem.

Then i'l do the 12v fuel mod to see if its my fuel ecu.Maybe grounding the battery in the back messed it up.

Those are ideas for now untill i get the volt meter.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Man i'm so tired of driving my wife's corolla

BTW i did ground the battery in other places and even used the jumper cables to ground aditionaly.

 

did you ground the battery somewhere else other where you currently have it?

 

check if theres oil and dirt on ur alternator.
if there is then ur distributor may be leaking Oil.
change the distributor O-ring and probably the alternator

 

yea just put it back put front. dont pull the wire that you ran because when you get a stereo you can use that wire you ran to the truck. just disconnect it.

 

Yeah i grounded twice,one in the old place and made a new ground wire somewhere else.


My dist is leaking ,its got some oil under it on the metal shield.I'm not sure the alternator has any oil on it,but it could be because you cant really see it that well(the back)

i may just pull the alternator and just replace it ,with the o ring..

 

possible things for your problem a major draw on the car , alternator not working well, dirty battery contacts, broken crank pulley only those things would effect your cars charging system.....

 

OK finaly drove the car home YEEEEEYYYY

I guess the fuel ecu went bad.It runs in the mornings but dies in the afternoon

I did the jumper in the diagnostics and voala,its working.

Now i'l drive this car to Autozone to check the alternator and the battery

You guys are AWESOME!!!!

Thanks a lot, i'l keep you guys posted.

 

So wait you changed out your fuel ECU?? Because that might be the same problem im having right now.