Did a bunch of searching but didn't see this exact problem with a solution so here goes ...

Left store yesterday, turned key to start, rapid-fire clicking from under the hood - all idiot lights on and no cranking.
I assume the battery is toast.
Car starts fine with a boost - further confirms battery is toast (it's an old one).

Get it home, voltmeter shows 12.8 Volts at rest on the battery, charging at 14 Volts when running.
Try to start it - same thing.
Jump start it again - starts right up.
Posts and connectors were cleaned up before trying the second time.

I figure the battery has the Voltage but not the Amperage when cranking (it's old after all) so I replace it with a new one (virtually the same voltage showing on the multimeter as the old one.

Turn the key - same thing. rapid-fire clicking (starter solenoid I assume) but won't crank.

WTF!? Anyone run into this and even better - solve it?

 

Got it solved - I apologize for the unnecessary post .

 

What was the fix?

 

Please let us know how you solved the problem. People often do not tell us how an issue was resolved. All we hear about is that someone has a problem, then others offer suggestions. What is often missing is how it worked out in the end. It is good to know how a successful outcome was reached.

 

A bad ground...

 

this has happened to me before and it was a bad negative terminal connection, and a bad battery.

 

So much for that solution.

I determined from the behavior that the problem was with the battery.

It was at least 5 years old - many hard Canadian winters on it. It tested good (12.6V resting) but I know it can look okay on the voltmeter and have problem cells inside nevertheless. So I sprang for a new one.

Did I mention it was charging at 14 Volts when running (after the boost)?

Anyway - put new battery in, turn key, car starts, good ... fixed.

Car sat all day and night, started in the morning for work, many starts and stops made on the way home ... fixed right?

Wrong. Next morning - No start. Battery still testing good at rest. The new battery I mean. Jump start the car (hate doing this to a brand new battery), now it looks like the alternator isn't charging.

It wouldn't even try to start on it's own. Lights flickering, starter solenoid clicking away ... what a mess.

Bad connection or relay or something is all I can come up with. Haven't gotten under there to look yet. Been busy with the new (to me) '03 sitting out front. The '99 was for sale but it's hard to sell a car that won't frigging run.

And it runs beautifully when it does.

Any ideas?

 

Clean the negative battery cable. Sand it. Then follow it to the engine. It's on a bracket. Remove the bracket with a socket or whatever and clean that. Sand it. I had this problem on my '97 rust bucket SE 5mt beater. I changed out the starter, battery, and ignition switch before doing what I suggested. Enjoy!

 

Clean both NEG and POS wire terminals on both ends. With the starter solenoid clicking with the IGN signal it could be the POS wire needs cleaning, tightening, or maybe replacement. It's the thick red wire connected from the battery straight to the solenoid switch.

 

battery terminal clamps cracked?

 

I cleaned the hell out of the battery connections when I put the new battery in.

Guess I'll have to nut up and get under there (sigh).

When I saw it running but apparently not charging my first thought was a break in the path from the alternator back to the battery.
The path to the starter would appear to be fine since it always starts with a boost.

Especially since I saw it charging after a jump start with the "dead" battery still in there.

I'll tell you how it goes.

Thanks for the ideas.

Car runs WAY to good to go out on a flatbed. 375 000 (kms).

 

With your starter needing 2 batteries to engage then the path is in no doubt not clean.

Do as Quicky stated earlier and clean the NEG wire where it mounts onto the bracket. If that doesn't solve the problem then do as I stated earlier and clean the POS wire where it mounts onto the solenoid switch.

 

Mine was so bad it started taking long to crank start at the gas station and corner stores. Then it died on me, push started it and started diagnosing it at home. I read so many threads my head was about to explode. I took my starter out and swapped in a spare. Nothing, only a click... SO I thought the solenoid was bad. I changed out the battery to my spare walmart maxx everstart 1000CA beast and nothing. I read about the ign switch. I took it out and turned it by hand, nothing, click. I removed the ground at the engine from the neg terminal and cleaned off the corrosion. Vroom! VQ came to life and I couldn't believe how simple it was and I was making it so complicated.

 

The thing is, nothing happened gradually with mine - it went from perfect to zilch. Anyway - All posts including yours are pointing to that ground. I'll post what happens after I get at it.

And thanks.

 

Mine would crank and while cranking it would quit cranking as if though the starter got stuck. Weird things happen with machines. Try it out.

 

Have you had the alternator tested?

 

It could be either battery cable. There could ne corrosion within the insulation, bad enough to cause a n open circuit under load. Research voltage drop testing and give it a try.

 

Well,

Got down under there and chased after the main chassis ground (to the block actually). A little awkward down there for sure (dropped the damn 3/8 drive ratchet handle with the 12mm socket on my face right between the eyes - actually drew blood). No skinned knuckles, just bleeding from the head .

Did some wire brushing, REcleaned the battery post clamps, worked the crimp connector on the negative cable that goes to the block back and forth to possibly get some continuity if there was build up between the strands of wire on the inside, put it all back together, put the old (as in 5 year old original battery) back in the car ...

Turned the key and BAM ... fired right up the way it always has.

Just realized now I did not check to see if the alternator was charging once she was running.
Will do this tomorrow.

Thing about this car - it has always been super quick to fire, like it was running before the starter even cranked the motor all the way over.
Best starting car I have ever owned actually.

Thank you everybody for your input!

 

Told you so. If you removed the air snorkle then you have a easier shot at the bracket from the top. That's what I did. Becareful because a simple mistake can be very costly, like simply droping the tool could've blinded you. Happy maxima motoring isn't this car great!

 

You're so right. I was lucky that the darn thing caught me between the eyes and not square in one of them.

Thanks for the help!

 

Yep, been there done that. And you're not the only one that didn't believe it could be so simple of a fix. I read horror stories and messed with everything but the ground before that was all that I had left to mess with. I even bought a grounding kit because of this.