Won't start!!!!!

[mag_pbg]

Ok my car won't start, at first we thought it was the starter so we bought a new one and put it in, but the starter won't even work!! We crossed the + and the - on the starter but nothing, when I turn the key everything else works but the stupid thing won't even turn over, there is plenty of juice in the battery, and when we tested the volts on the starter it read 10 volts, what could be my prob.

[zero.counter]

Does the starter have its' ground cable grounded? Have you actually had the solenoid and starter removed for testing? Are your fuses (check the fusebox) good?

[Mac]

What happens when you try to start? A click? Nothing? Are you sure that the battery is good? Just because there is voltage at the battery doesn't mean it can handle the current to turn the starter. You might want to have your battery load tested.

Is your car an auto? If it is and you hear nothing when you try to start look into the nuetral safety switch.

[mag_pbg]

Well I got her home, we ended up putting jumper cables on the starter and the battery, and it fired right up so we thought that maybe the ground terminals were dirty so I took it off the motor, and cleaned it up and started it, well I went to start it up a couple of hours later to go to town and it started only as soon as you start it the revs jump up to 4K then go back down then when I went to turn on the lights the weird stuff started to happen, the first click made the temp guage shoot to half way mark, then the last click for the lights made all the guage lights go dim and then temp. gauge shoot past the red mark. I tried to drive it in the drive way a bit and the lights kept on getting dimmer and dimmer. It sounds like the alternator, but I replaced it prob. less than a year ago, could there be a short somewhere maybe.

[Mac]

Yep, it sounds like a battery or alternator problem. First check the battery connections, make sure that they are clean and tight on the batt. Then follow the ground wire and make sure that is clean and tight on the block. Also the positive wire to the starter.

Also check the tension and condition of the alternator belt.

If all that is good, pull the battery and have it tested.

[mag_pbg]

I can't imagine it is either one, since they are not even a year old, but It would be, I don't think it is the connections, I just cleaned them today when I put in the new starter, but what Im wondering is, why does it show my temp. past the red mark, when I hadn't ran it for hours, could my guage be screwed.

[Mac]

I'm not sure why the temp is reading high. The only way I know to check the temp gauge is to pull off the temp gauge sender plug. With the plug off the gauge should read cold. If you ground the wire in the plug the gauge should read hot. Be careful not to leave it grounded too long because that might damage the gauge.

[mag_pbg]

I went back to the car after leaving it on the charger for about a hour, it started up but the lights are still really dim, both inside and out only now the temp gauge is fine, but if I put on the brake it dies. It makes me want to the think battery, but I tested it and it reads 14 volts, so then I want to think alternator, but wouldn't the lights and everything come on fine for a little bit before the battery ran down, but that still doesn't explain why the brake is making it shut down oh I checked the belt Mac, and it still had tension.