Starter delay

[JGood]

Sometimes when I go to start my car (85 325e, m50tu) there is a delay from the time I turn the key until the time the starter does anything. I can literally hold the key forward for 3-4 seconds, nothing at all happens (no click, no ding, no nothing, then all the sudden the starter will engage and start the engine right up. If I leave the lights on with the car off for 10 minutes or so, it's really bad. Sometimes it won't start at all if I do that. But if I jump the car, it will fire right up, way faster then it would if the battery was dead. It almost seems like if the battery drops below a certain voltage, the car just won't try to crank over (say, 11.5 volts).

I'm thinking maybe a faulty battery or starter relay?

[Danny]

Battery is on its way out.

[FredK]

In the interim, just borrow the battery from the combine until you can get to town and buy a new battery.

[JGood]

In the interim, just borrow the battery from the combine until you can get to town and buy a new battery.

So I hook that up parallel or series with my current battery? Or should I just open them up and swap internals?

[Adrian_Visser]

Just take a bag of potatoes and stick nails with wires into them in series. A 25lb bag should do. Just make sure they are good Yukon Golds none of those crappy Russets.

[FredK]

lolololol

[avery0829]

Just take a bag of potatoes and stick nails with wires into them in series. A 25lb bag should do. Just make sure they are good Yukon Golds none of those crappy Russets.

This man knows his potatoes!

[MattM]

Just take a bag of potatoes and stick nails with wires into them in series. A 25lb bag should do. Just make sure they are good Yukon Golds none of those crappy Russets.
__________________

say what?


Did this in some spare time in chem, i only got to 9 volts... i had visions of a car starting on it, but never got that far

[FredK]

Maybe use some lemons?

[kishg]

who needs a starter? cut holes on floor boards so you can jump start it flintstone style!

[erik325i]

who needs a starter? cut holes on floor boards so you can jump start it flintstone style!

You don't need to cut out your floor boards. Just install some Nawz and your floor will just fall out just as your manifold is starting to be in danger.

Erik

[Adrian_Visser]

You don't need to cut out your floor boards. Just install some Nawz and your floor will just fall out just as your manifold is starting to be in danger.

Erik

Oh nowz!

[MattM]

ahaha, what i saw going to say before i got distracted by the potato comment was that i battled a very similar problem for ages, it would be random too, car would start fine some days, and others i would spend 10 minutes turning the key until it would go. IT ended up being the battery not having the juice required. Took the battery for testing and it failed. Got a new one completely free under the 3 year warranty OEM batteries have! ;)

[7pilot]

Borrow a known good battery and install.
Put a voltmeter on the battery.
Check what the volts drop to when you crank.
if voltage drops to 9v starter has dead coils and is sucking the battery down.
If you test your current battery this way, then it could be the battery as well that may have a bad cell.

m

[JGood]

Well it got bad to the point where it won't start without being jumped. I put a new battery in it, no go. Still does the same thing. So that was a waste. I put the battery in my other car, it works fine.

Doesn't make any sense to me. Why would it only start when being jumped?