Something's wrong

[NOT A T5]

Hi All, after my brandnew AGM Autolite battery recently crapped out, I put in a battery from Costco, for now. Battery is at 12.6 Volts, but at starter solenoid I only measure 6.5 Volts. At the coil Voltage is 6.3 I cannot start the car in Park or Neutral. If I put it in neutral I get one "click" every time I try to start it. Any help is gladly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[midlife]

Battery is bad (bad cell) or is not charged. Voltage as measured is the battery under load; your voltage at the battery is when the battery is not under load.

 

[Bentworker]

Yep. A battery can produce “good” voltage, with little to no current...

Before you go chasing your tail take the battery somewhere and have it load tested.

Bad cell is a very strong possibility.

 

[boilermaster]

Not a t 5,

Sorry, you need to fill in the blanks here.

What terminal on the starter relay and what position was the key in and where was the ground side of the meter?.

If one assumes that it was on the battery side of the relay with the key on and you had only 6.5 v there, then it would only be logical to have the same voltage at the coil positive.

that would indicate high resistance in the positive cable or it's connections or the same on the ground side.

NOW take the same scenario on the pull in lead or starter side of the relay with the key on or in crank position and you change everything.

Really hope you just got a defective battery.

Boilermaster

 

[73pony]

Two defective batteries in a row. I guess anything is possible though not likely. There is a wiring issue somewhere IMHO.

 

[Don C]

Unless you're lugging batteries around for the exercise benefit, or just like to, I would get a battery tester, not that expensive. After you get one you'll be surprised how much you use it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-612v-battery-load-tester-61747.html

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-BT-100-Battery-Load-Tester/dp/B000AMBOI0/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1538927394&sr=1-4&keywords=car+battery+tester

 

[NOT A T5]

Not a t 5,

Sorry, you need to fill in the blanks here.

What terminal on the starter relay and what position was the key in and where was the ground side of the meter?.

If one assumes that it was on the battery side of the relay with the key on and you had only 6.5 v there, then it would only be logical to have the same voltage at the coil positive.

that would indicate high resistance in the positive cable or it's connections or the same on the ground side.

NOW take the same scenario on the pull in lead or starter side of the relay with the key on or in crank position and you change everything.

Really hope you just got a defective battery.

Boilermaster

Hi boilermaster, it measured 6+ Volts on the "S" terminal with the key in Ignition position. The ground probe was against the body of the car. There was no voltage on the "I" connector.

 

[NOT A T5]

Two defective batteries in a row. I guess anything is possible though not likely. There is a wiring issue somewhere IMHO.

73 pony, this was actually the third battery I've tried and please don't laugh...I just bought battery number 4.

 

[NOT A T5]

Unless you're lugging batteries around for the exercise benefit, or just like to, I would get a battery tester, not that expensive. After you get one you'll be surprised how much you use it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-612v-battery-load-tester-61747.html

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-BT-100-Battery-Load-Tester/dp/B000AMBOI0/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1538927394&sr=1-4&keywords=car+battery+tester

Don C, I just got back from the store, bought battery number 4 and shoot...I was looking at one of those battery testers!

 

[Don C]

My guess is that you have a grounding issue, bad cable or bad connections. Does your ground cable run to the bottom bolt on the voltage regulator and then to the engine block? Or in some other way ground both the chassis and the engine. When you check voltages make sure your ground probe is getting a good ground, best to get it directly from the negative battery terminal.

 

[NOT A T5]

Sent first Autolite battery back to manufacturer, second Autolite battery return pending. Third battery returned to the store. I'm afraid of even putting the POS and NEG cables on #4

Starter solenoid D2ZZ...brandnew

Regulator is brandnew with electronic internals

Heavy duty battery cable set brandnew

Pertronix Coil and module

All wiring refurbished by midlife

Starter is 5 years old but car's been sitting for 3 years

Thanks everyone for your comments.

 

[Bentworker]

So, when you took battery #3 back to the store did it test bad?

 

[boilermaster]

not a t 5,

You should NOT have any voltage at the S terminal of the starter relay with the key in the ignition position.

you SHOULD have battery voltage at the S terminal of the starter relay when the key is in the CRANK position !

Un plug the S terminal and hook up one lead at the un connected wire and the other to ground and turn the ignition to CRANK, DO YOU HAVE VOLTAGE ?.

Also, what color wires are at the S terminal and I terminal ?

the starter relay works like this.

If you look at the battery side there should be several wires besides the battery cable, the others provide voltage to the ignition switch and other accessories, the ignition switch provides voltage to the S terminal to PULL IN THE RELAY , when the relay is pulled in, it provides voltage to the starter.

The starter relay Must be properly grounded to provide voltage to the starter, S terminal and I terminal.

on the ground side of the battery you need a good ground to the engine block and from the engine block to

the chassis.

The function of the I terminal is to provide battery voltage to the ignition while the engine is cranking, there is NO resistor in this circuit as there is in the run circuit.

I see 3 distinct possibility's here, the I and S terminals at the starter relay are reversed.

the starter relay has a poor ground

you have a poor ground cable , either from the battery to the engine block or from the engine block to the chassis.

so tell us what color wires are on the S terminal and I terminal, I would have to look it up myself, but it is a possibility.

Boilermaster

 

[NOT A T5]

My guess is that you have a grounding issue, bad cable or bad connections. Does your ground cable run to the bottom bolt on the voltage regulator and then to the engine block? Or in some other way ground both the chassis and the engine. When you check voltages make sure your ground probe is getting a good ground, best to get it directly from the negative battery terminal

OMG!  I thought I hooked up the negative cable to the block but instead connected it to the NEG side of the starter relay!!! The other connector about midway on that cable is connected to the bolt under the voltage regulator. I'm loosing my mind!!!    Gonna fix that right away.

 

[NOT A T5]

So, when you took battery #3 back to the store did it test bad?

Autozone tested it and said it was good! Returned it to Costco anyway.

 

[NOT A T5]

not a t 5,

You should NOT have any voltage at the S terminal of the starter relay with the key in the ignition position.

you SHOULD have battery voltage at the S terminal of the starter relay when the key is in the CRANK position !

Un plug the S terminal and hook up one lead at the un connected wire and the other to ground and turn the ignition to CRANK, DO YOU HAVE VOLTAGE ?.

Also, what color wires are at the S terminal and I terminal ?

the starter relay works like this.

If you look at the battery side there should be several wires besides the battery cable, the others provide voltage to the ignition switch and other accessories, the ignition switch provides voltage to the S terminal to PULL IN THE RELAY , when the relay is pulled in, it provides voltage to the starter.

The starter relay Must be properly grounded to provide voltage to the starter, S terminal and I terminal.

on the ground side of the battery you need a good ground to the engine block and from the engine block to

the chassis.

The function of the I terminal is to provide battery voltage to the ignition while the engine is cranking, there is NO resistor in this circuit as there is in the run circuit.

I see 3 distinct possibility's here, the I and S terminals at the starter relay are reversed.

the starter relay has a poor ground

you have a poor ground cable , either from the battery to the engine block or from the engine block to the chassis.

so tell us what color wires are on the S terminal and I terminal, I would have to look it up myself, but it is a possibility.

Boilermaster

I'll check that as soon as I can get my kid to help me. Thank you for the detailed explanation!

Turned out I bolted the starter cable bracket to the block but did not connect the NEG cable there. Connected the NEG cable from the battery to the NEG side of the starter relay! Because of that I thought I had it connected to the block.  :shootself:

The "I" plug is teal and red wire with white stripe, it's supposed to be blue stripe perhaps rubbed off I dunno. "S" terminal is green plug with red wire, no stripe. Does the fusible link go to the positive side of the starter relay???

 

[Bentworker]

You're killin me Smalls!

Lol... Glad you found a wiring problem. You could keep swapping out good batteries until you look like Hulk Hogan if they test good and you swap them anyways.

 

[NOT A T5]

You're killin me Smalls!

Lol... Glad you found a wiring problem.  You could keep swapping out good batteries until you look like Hulk Hogan if they test good and you swap them anyways.

lollerz  I'm small and unworthy! Got my kid to help but 6 Volts is all I'm getting at the green plug! Coil is the same 6 Volts, haven't tried to start...probably won't with half the voltage.

 

[NOT A T5]

You're killin me Smalls!

Lol... Glad you found a wiring problem.  You could keep swapping out good batteries until you look like Hulk Hogan if they test good and you swap them anyways.

So do you know if the fusible link (brown wire) goes the positive side of the starter relay?