My 83' 280zx has trouble starting every morning. I dunno if the battery's being drained everynight or what, but I MAKE SURE to turn everything off inside the car. Doors are shut, lights off, everything. However, It still won't start. It's making me late to school everyday.... (which I don't mind, but my folks do) HELP?




-KD1

 

ummmm.... details? wont start cause the battery is dead every morning? so you jump it? or what. thats WAY to vague of a description of what you have to do to make it start and its characteristics for us to say anything

 

Mebbe it's running low on Plutonium?

 

Its possable cold start valve i had a 1983 Na and i had to buy a new cold start valve and it fixed the problem.. then later on i figured out how to fix the old cold start valve ! i unpluged it from the harness then i had to take off the antifreezze lines then i was able to un hook both hoses from the front and rear ... then i took off the cold start valve and opened it up... low and behold there is a spring in there and there was alot of " suit " build up dust ... so i used some carb spray and i used a little bit of oil...10-30 weight to relube the spring then i put it back togethor but yet still didint work well so i used my " haynes " manual and saw u can adujust !!!!! the little bolt on the cold start valve to open faster on really cold days ! wow bingo ! problem fixed ! so i took my new cold start vlave back to autozone and got my money back !

 

its possible........ ANYTHING cause he gave a horrible description of the problem haha. so instead of giving him any suggestions or ideas lets wait for a better story of what the problem is.

 

man its just cold out side... if you want a car that cranks evey time buy a 08!!!

 

An 08 Kia will still have starting probs.

 

i said car not kia dont expect little toy cars to have real car engines

 

if u have a meter check voltage when you are running make sure it is like 13vdc or better, turn off car and it should be 12.something, then in the morning see if the volts lowered. if it did then u have a short somewhere draining the battery over night. if it stays at 12 volts you have a starting problem. if it is not reading over 12 volts while running. disconnect the battery while it is running. if the car dies the the Alt is bad and not charging the battery enough so the car is running off the battery, then you will need a new alt and maybe battery since it has been the source of power while running and cells could be going on it..

my 2 cents

 

Just waiting on details.....

I presume the batt is dead in the morning. Is it dead right after running?
Have you taken it to a place like Checkers for a free charging system check?
Could you please be less vague, and we will get you all fixed.

 

I'm alright I'll stick with my 280ZX it cranks everytime. Even in nearly 0 degree temperature. It's all about taking care of it and keeping things in order.

 

exactly. It will say its charged when I leave it at night but by morning it will be dead. It hadn't done this in the whole year that I've owned it so I dunno whats going on.

 

oh and sorry about being vague. I was in study hall and had to sneak on a comp

 

did you store you battery while it had low voltage in cold weather?

 

Did you try jump starting it this morning???

 

theres only three possible problems, dead alternator dying battery or a parasitic drain. start with the first two since they are easily tested for free at autozone.

 

if it is dying over night. then it is possible u have a short to ground somewhere, i have a friend that also had the wires going to the alt crossed on time so it was supplying a ground and causing it to drain, disconnect the positive and make sure it touches nothing. then shoot from every place that battery power is at. like the battery power at the radio...with battery disconnected put one lead to the wire and the other to a good ground. if you get continuity at any of those places u have a short and can then figure it out.

 

yeah they dont even care if you dont buy any parts, also get your girl friend to do it AND YOU DONT EVEN HAVE TO TAKE IT OUT THE CAR!!! they will take it out for her!!!

 

lol my girl cant drive my car and you are very true on that one
i am working on teaching her

 

they have mobile testers so they test the alternator in the car. not sure about the battery but thats chump work

 

To perform a proper load test, they have to make sure the battery is fully charged, and disconnected from everything but the large load testing machine. Hand Held testers do very little to test a batteries reserve capacity.

In AZ you are lucky to have a batter that stays in good health even for a year. I go through them often. Especially the abuse I give them.

 

I think the flux capacitor needs an adjustment

 

I need to figure out what's doing this in my 300zx. Whatever it is doesn't kill it over night, but like my battery will generally not have enough of a charge if I don't drive the car for like a couple of days.

 

Is it old? Proper CCA rating? Any corrosion on the terminals / wires? Door pin switches all work? ... prolly all stuff you've already checked ...

 

I'm pretty sure its the alternator, so I got a new one for $60. I've had to drift start it for a couple of days