FLmax

guys and gals,
please give me some tips of what can be wrong with my car. i have a 95 gle max with 111k miles on it. i went to orlando yesterday in the morning and came back at 6pm and everything seemed fine. then i went out to move the car at 10 and it wouldn't start. i couldn't arm the car again or turn on the radio. i also tried to turn on the aftermarket fog lights (which is wired to the batt) and it made some grinding high pitch noises. the fuses looked normal. i went out and bought a voltmeter and the battery read 12.74v. i tried to turn on the car again and it made a grinding high pitch noise again. could it be the famous starter that everyone had a problem with? i thought that my apc bulb melted the oem wire harness but the lights were working last night and the plugs looked normal this morning. any help would be grateful and suggestions on what to look for next.

deathwish

Starters generally make more of a clicking sound when bad, but that would still be my guess. Try hitting the starter with a hammer a few times, give it some good whacks. Then try and start it up. If it starts, then you know it's the starter I've never had a car with a starter that made it more than 90k...

JULIAN

iTrader: (3)

When you test it with a voltmeter it does not put a load on it, jump start it and if it starts then more than likely it is the battery. Once it starts, take it to a shop and have the battery tested, they can test it with a load on it, which will simulate things like the starter, etc. Good Luck !!!!!!!!

vbxmaxima

JULIAN is right.

It's not voltage that matters but current under load.
If you can get the car to start with jumper cables, then it's a good indication its the battery. Better yet, it's so easy to remove the battery. Take it to a local auto parts store (Autozone, Kragen, etc. Call ahead first). They have a battery checker that will measure your CCA (cold current amps) - a battery will put out less juice under colder temps.

And, hey, if the battery is bad, you're right in the store that will sell you a new one

[Edited by vbxmaxima on 10-30-2000 at 09:33 AM]

Eric L.

Man, it's really odd that you couldn't even arm the car or turn on the radio. If it's just the starter, it shouldn't affect the power to the accessories. It's also odd that your battery reads 12.74V (which is perfect) and you still couldn't start it.

How exactly could the car even make a "grinding" high pitched noise when all you did was turn on the fogs? There isn't even anything moving to cause the noise! Now I'm even more cornfused.

I think it's your battery. However, a dead battery will usually cause the starter to just go "click click click", i.e. try to turn over but not have enough power to do so.

Also, the fact that you mentioned that it might be the fogs that caused the noise, try disconnecting your fogs from the battery and then try to start the car. Sometimes it's a bad ground wire or something simple like that that causes a major headache.

FLmax

thanks guys. i have replaced the battery and the max is running great (knock on wood). thank you for all your help.