PLEASE help me, its so cold

[canadian357]

I need to figure out what my electrical problem is. My car runs fine when its on, no power loss, newer battery, but as soon as I turn it off and try to start it again it acts like all the juice gets sucked out of the battery at once as soon as I turn the ignition to the start position. Any ideas? Its so so cold out right now

[canadian357]

Its my lx-i by the way. And on a side note, not as important, but my tach flips between 3000-4000 rpm when I'm in neutral or park, even though its at a smooth low idle. However while driving it works fine.

[canadian357]

Aaaaaannnnd, my window was stuck down for a while but when I replace the little relay/fuse underhood it worked ok, but that was only for like 2 days. Now its stuck halfway down again. Any ideas what's killing it?

[nswst8]

CAn you jumpstart it?

[carotman]

There's a couple of things to check

The battery might be bad
The wires might be bad
The connections might be bad
The starter might be bad

Check every one of those.

[89T]

Aaaaaannnnd, my window was stuck down for a while but when I replace the little relay/fuse under the hood it worked OK, but that was only for like 2 days. Now its stuck halfway down again. Any ideas what's killing it?

bad window motor. replace it and the relay again.
sounds like the window motor is pulling too much amperage causing the relay to fail. not enough to blow the fuse but enough to cook the relay.

[canadian357]

I know the battery is good, I pulled it from my other 3gee and it was gold before this. I got it tested to be sure and its good. As for the other stuff... there are old crappy terminals on the battery cables so I'm going to run new cable, or possibly replace it from the other 3gee. Finally, will an LX starter bolt up? It struggles a bit on startup so I might as well. I have a 2 week old one it the other car. I'm swapping the whole regulator out thursday, we'll see how that goes.

[ShyBoyCA6]

There's a couple of things to check

The battery might be bad
The wires might be bad
The connections might be bad
The starter might be bad

Check every one of those.

hmm could be bad battery connectors cause my car does this and i have to move the cable a bit for it to turn on and if not might be the battery that cant handle the cold i had a problem with a battery that wouldnt work in the cold for shet check those 2

[dacantu]

It should bolt up but both cars have to be either automatic or 5 speed. Because the starters from an automatic aRe different to those from a 5 speed.

Hope you get it all sorted out. I would think its weak terminals though

[canadian357]

Now it wont respond to a boost, it did earlier this morning. I get what sounds like a dead starter click... lol, my boss will shit a house when he sees me working on the car out front

[canadian357]

hmm could be bad battery connectors cause my car does this and i have to move the cable a bit for it to turn on and if not might be the battery that cant handle the cold i had a problem with a battery that wouldnt work in the cold for shet check those 2

I've had the exact same battery before, made it through the whole winter without a hiccup.

[dacantu]

It could be your wires from your battery to your starter. check if they are loos on the battery or on the starter and also is your car a automatic? or 5 speed?

if its automatic and youve checked the wires then try banging on the stater a little bit with a long metal tube and light hammer. it might just not want to turn over.

if its 5 speed im sure you know you can push start it.

but what it sounds like is just loose or old cables going to the starter because you said its like the juice is sucked out of the batt.

[canadian357]

Well, thats actually not too bad. I'll check all my grounds tomorrow, replace my terminals, and see whats up. Its an auto, by the way. I dont suppose I can get away with 6 AWG wire for grounds or positive to starter wire can I? I have soo soo much of it.

[dacantu]

Yes im sure that will be fine temporarily. I'm planning on redoing all my grounds soon and I will use 4awg or even 2awg. but bigger than 4awg is absolutely not necessary.