Troubleshooting no start

[bala_eos]

My car is a 1987 325i.

I CAN jump start the car. But, on a fully charged battery, the dash lights come on and I hear a click. Nothing else.

The 3 year old Duralast battery died and I replaced it with a Optima Red Top - this isn't a new battery. But, it was working fine in another car when I put it in to my E30.

The battery when fully charged with an external charger (for 3 days) shows 12.7 Volts.

The voltage at the underhood terminal when running (after a jump start) at 3000 RPM shows 13.5 Volts.


Any ideas ?

Thanks,
Bala

[jlevie]

If all you get is a click from the starter with a fully charged battery, but the starter works with jumper cables from a donor, there is a high resistance in the primary power circuits. Places to check are the power and ground cables/connections at the battery, the main cable connections at the power point in the engine, the power connection at the starter, and the ground cable from the engine to chassis. If there are no problems with the primary wiring, the battery could be bad and not able to deliver high current (it can be load tested at most any auto parts house).

[bala_eos]

Thanks for the info. Couldn't get to work on the car for the last couple of weeks.

I just cleaned the battery cable - it looked pretty good. I removed and cleaned the engine to frame ground strap. That also looked in pretty good shape. I checked the voltage at the starter/solenoid - 12.8V when not cranking.

Still not cranking.