1997 Pontiac Sunfire 2.2 OHV No Crank

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Wixom, MI
Hello,

My old Pontiacs have about bit the dust.

My wife's car is struggling, as the title says. An intermittent battery warning light while driving. An intermittent no crank condition that follows the battery light; however if the car sits for a few hours afterward it will start no problem.

I have not been able to duplicate this problem, it has only happened to her.

I have replaced the original alternator because I believed the diodes in the regulator were failing causing a battery issue however this has done nothing to solve the problem.

With the car running, my DMM shows about 14 volts DC at the battery terminals. With the car running, my DMM shows between 10-30 volts AC at the battery terminals. Are the diodes on my new alternator bad?

I honestly don't know what the problem is here.
 
Last edited:
bad battery. sounds like when it gets hot it loses cranking amps, but when cold it has plenty. bad batteries will eat alternators. A family member went through the same thing and took the battery to advance and autozone to get tested..both said the battery was OK.. so they replaced the alternator, cables, solenoids... no help. New battery solved issue.
 
Bad ground at the battery tray. When you go to fix it, the bolt will snap off. Follow your negative terminal down from the battery; a foot into it you'll find the nasty ground.

Shine everything up then stick that down with a self tapping screw or whatever.

Throw a couple eye ring fasteners on a scrap of wire and run another ground from "somewhere on the motor" to a strut mounting nut.

This actually won't help your cranking-- the big wire down to the bellhousing carries that current-- but all the other stuff going on likes that clean ground.

I would not trust a cheap DMM's impression of AC in this example. You don't know its sampling rate and how that lines up with alternator output.

That all said I also expect the battery to be near death.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Bad ground at the battery tray. When you go to fix it, the bolt will snap off. Follow your negative terminal down from the battery; a foot into it you'll find the nasty ground.

Shine everything up then stick that down with a self tapping screw or whatever.

Throw a couple eye ring fasteners on a scrap of wire and run another ground from "somewhere on the motor" to a strut mounting nut.

This actually won't help your cranking-- the big wire down to the bellhousing carries that current-- but all the other stuff going on likes that clean ground.

I would not trust a cheap DMM's impression of AC in this example. You don't know its sampling rate and how that lines up with alternator output.

That all said I also expect the battery to be near death.


I cleaned up the battery tray ground. The bolt did snap off, anyways it is nice and shiny. I cleaned both battery terminals, and the engine block ground as well.

The car still will not crank.

I am also confused by every starting/charging wiring diagram I have found for this car. Every one shows a Purple wire at the starter but every wire at the starter on this car is Red.

How many amps is the fusible link for the big Red charging wire? Cannot find that out as well.
 
Okay, we're talking about an older car you just want to get running again, right?

Originally Posted By: THE_TROTS
I also tried to start it by shorting the solenoid terminals with a screwdriver. No sparks, no start.


This leaves only four things that could be a problem:
->No B- battery to engine block - test with jumper cables
->No B+ battery to starter - see if your screwdriver will make sparks when it touches the big wire and the starter housing
-> battery is flat - easy to check, then you have to see why it happened
->dead starter - will need make renew
 
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Okay, we're talking about an older car you just want to get running again, right?

Originally Posted By: THE_TROTS
I also tried to start it by shorting the solenoid terminals with a screwdriver. No sparks, no start.


This leaves only four things that could be a problem:
->No B- battery to engine block - test with jumper cables
->No B+ battery to starter - see if your screwdriver will make sparks when it touches the big wire and the starter housing
-> battery is flat - easy to check, then you have to see why it happened
->dead starter - will need make renew


I jumped the ground. Jumper cable from B- to the engine block. The car started right up.

Now the car will start every time without anything jumped so I cannot verify that is the issue.
 
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