[SgtBob]

....My first post here. 93' Esc wagon/1,9/5spd. Hard starting....battery was old. New battery..fine for a week or so. Starter barely turns over..chk belt, alternatior output, and new batttery....all fine. I replace starter(Maybe due to age-mileage was drawing too much out of the battery to tiurn )...Fine for a day. Now back to the "starter barely turns over symptom" Any thoughts?................Thnx.........SgtBob

 

[highanddry]

Bad main ground off the battery. Replace it.

 

[SgtBob]

...Thanks for the reply. Will try that today or Wednedsay and let you know how it works(You seemed pretty sure of that fix).....SgtBob

 

[highanddry]

I'll pay for the ground if I'm wrong.

 

[SgtRauksauff]

the normal ground for the battery goes onto this stupid tiny thin piece of bracket that in turn bolts to the transmission. I was having a similar problem with slow starter (turned out it was a loose alternator belt) and i ended up just using a step-bit to bore out the connector on the end of the ground wire, and I bolted it straight to one of the starter bolts. perfect ground!

 

[SgtBob]

..Well..I replaced the ground cable...power wirebrushed the grounding points on the lf fender and on the trans.....starts fine. But now(what else is new!) After this latest elec fix, I now have 3 new problems. First, the gas gauge is stuck at it's last reading. Second, the temp gauge is not raeding at all. and third, that fan ain't kickin on when it should. Just luv it when the fixes result in more problems. Checked the fuse panel, fuse box, and various elec conns in the area I've been working in...stater-batt-cables. Also looked at the generic schematic in the Haynes shop manual. No luck yet. Any further help would be appreciated...THANKS...SgtBob

 

[SgtBob]

...2nd Followup/Fowlup. Looks like the gauge and fan problems are fixed okay. But still have the slow/no start problem....figures........

 

[birddog]

check you starter wires. Are they looking pretty nasty? Look for places where they touch anything. My chevelle gave me fits with the darn starter and it turned out the wires had rubbed a bare spot in the insulation enough to lose a little juice to ground. Definately worth a look.

 

[highanddry]

Alright. Send me the bill for the ground. The problem is in your wiring/grounding somewhere and there aren't a lot of choices left.

 

[SgtBob]

...Thanks for the continuing advice..don't think I'll be sending you(high and dry) a bill! You are offering online help..not onsite fixin..I'm thankful for that. Later today(Wednesday) I'll be recheckin' the whole starter/chrg circuit. Must tell you that I cleaned all the grounds, rechecked voltage and resistence..seemed okay. Just a thought...what about adding another ground from the battery to the engine?

 

[SgtRauksauff]

you also might want to check out a couple more ground locations.. there's one high on the inner fender behind the strut tower, and also one lower down near the frame rail. if those aren't both solid, you could have problems too. Also, you might want to pull your back seat and check the ground for your fuel sender, if the first two don't take care of it.

Another ground from your battery to the frame and/or engine would probably help, too. Check this groundwire Howto by Gro Harlem on his site

--sarge

 

[SgtBob]

The final fix(es)?

..Okay.. I recleaned the grounds, added a 2nd ground wire from the batt- to the engine/transaxle groundplate, and switched from the used/ok battery to a brand new one(just as added insurance). So far-so good. By the way , thanks to those of you who offered tech advice
SgtBob