When i try to start my 85 wagon, it will only start when being jump started. If i try to start it, even with a good charge on the battery, the starter makes a grinding sort of noise, and the battery is drained significantly. is the starter going out? I know the battery is getting a good charge from the alternator when the car is running.

 

if the car starts when being jumped, and the battery has a good charge to it, then likely the battery is about dead...will charge, but doesn't sustain the charge - discharges almost immediately upon use...

Just my 2-cents

 

I am not sure if this is whats happening in yours but this happened in my 4th gen. My alt was charging the batt. while rolling but my car would die when it was sitting. So I figured it was the batt.....well I had it tested and actually the diodes in the alternator had gone bad. THe diodes are kinda like a check valve, so the power on goes one way....into the batt., but when it is turned off it closes the valve so no more power is pulled from the battery...so when that goes bad power goes both ways so therefor it will drain while it is sitting. The easiest way to get this solved is to go to Advanced Auto (or what ever you have around you) and get them to check it. They can test your battery and your alt. for free.....hope this helps, I know this may not be your problem but this is what happened to me

 

Few dead cells, or really low alkalinity levels...

 

Get the battery checked. If it's gone replace it. I couldn't even jump start my 84 wagon with a bad battery in it. After I installed a new battery it started right up.

 

And don't forget to check the battery cables for corrosion. You can clean them and the battery posts with some steel wool. If you have a lot of corrosion on the connections try some baking soda\water solution to dissolve the corrosion.