I relocated my battery to my hatch exactly 1 week ago Friday, and Thursday the car wouldn't start. Here's what I've done so far...

The battery was relocated with 0/1 gauge wire for 10 feet (I thought it'd be enough, I was wrong), and the final 18 inches or so was done with 4 gauge wire (all I had lying around and I really couldn't afford, at the time, to go get more 0/1 gauge wire). I used crimp connectors to connect them, and they're held together by a nut and bolt and covered in electrical tape. The 0/1 gauge wire is connected in the engine bay via same method (to both the starter wire and the smaller white wire, which I figure to be for the accessories when the engine is off). The battery was grounded in the hatch to one of the screws that holds the fuel tank cover down (with the paint ground off for better metal-metal contact).

Tuesday, the car wouldn't start, but the solenoid would click (all interior accessories worked fine, the solenoid would just click though). I went through all my connections and discovered the crimp between the 0/1 gauge wire and the 4 gauge wire was poor, so I redid that. After cleaning all the connections, the car started fine.

Thursday, I had the same problem (one click, no cranking), so I went through all the connections again. [Note: the car hadn't been driven since Tuesday... in both cases, the car sat for a couple days, which, to me, suggests the battery is the culprit.] I cleaned off the battery terminals (OEM Nissan battery, for the record - don't know how old it is as it was in the car when I purchased it), switched the ground to the bolt that goes in the center of the spare tire well, and checked all my connections, which appeared to be fine.

I even moved the battery back into the engine bay and connected it with the OEM wiring and it had the same problem. (I figured this would rule out a wiring problem on my behalf.)

Friday, I went through all my connections again, cleaned off the terminals again, as well as the grounding points, and took my multimeter to the battery and starter.

The battery gives 12.55 Volts (at both the battery and the starter, so I know it's getting power), but I cannot get an Amp reading (I've tried two multimeters, neither give a reading).

I tried jump starting the car, to no avail... same click as before.

Same result when I tried directly jumping the starter; it'll click, but won't start.

I swapped out the relay with one I got from a friend, with no success (in fact, I think his is dead because my car wouldn't even click with it installed - his car is disassembled, so we wouldn't have known that).

I took the starter off and tested it. By applying voltage to the connectors, I can get the gear to move forward (as it would to engage the flywheel), and I can get it to spin, so I'm sure the starter is fine. However, I feel like I'm missing a connection on it (I have the big 12V+ wire connected, a small ground on the housing (that I put there), and the harness connector that engages the starter. There are two terminals on the starter, though, only one being used (the large 12V+) currently. Did I lose a wire somewhere? Does anyone have a pic of a starter installed, so I can make sure this is still wired properly?

So here's my thought process...

I'm entirely not sure about the relay but I don't think it's my main cause, since it does click and putting in the other one, which I believe to be dead, caused the car to do nothing. (Is there a different relay that I have in my engine bay that I could test with, just to be sure?) However, I did notice that, recently, when I'd start the car, it'd hesitate for a second before beginning to start. But since I tried jumping the starter directly, which bypasses the relay, to no avail, I suspect the relay is not my problem.

It's probably not the starter, as my testing proved it to be working.

The 12.5V from the battery would suggest it's still good, but the fact that I can't get an Amp reading troubles me.

The fact that I can't jump it makes me wonder if it's the wiring altogether, but the fact that I'm getting 12.5V at the starter suggests that my wiring is fine, and also the fact that putting it back in the engine bay also had no effect. This, again, suggests the battery and/or relay as a possibility as well.

If it comes down to it, I'll take my battery to AutoZone to have them test it (as well as the starter if it comes down to it), but I'm lenient to do so because the last time I took my starter to them, they declared it dead and I found out that it wasn't the problem... I ponder if their test equipment is rigged to help them sell parts.

Any input is appreciated... I'm so frustrated right now and the only thing I could think to do is replace the battery, relay, and all the wiring, which would be costly and tedious, so I'm hoping someone has a suggestion for me.

Thanks in advance.

 

Zlover asking a question...my world has just collapsed. i wish i could help but my Z is gonr so i cant tak e a pick. and im no electrical genius. even though i learned electricity and i know amps are affected by ohms and voltage and ohms are affected by wire guage. so i doubt that the smaller guage wire is culprit, but i would still change it. besides that. crimps can make some crappy connections themselves. i would replace it with one solid wire all the same guage. other wise hope i works out.

 

It's impossible for any individual to know everything... and considering I live my life according to the philosophical imperatives, I can freely admit that I'm at a point where I simply don't know the answer and I've tried everything I do know.

 

haha... im just kidding i know this. you know way to much as it is. good to see that your human though. sorry i couldnt be more help though. i dont know how you could have missed something when wiring it up if it started up on your setup after re-crimping it. it may be just that connection or differnet guage wire something stupid like that. but i dont see how it could affect your car that severly. but if its the factory battery. that may also be the reason. you should definatly get it tested.

 

I'll probably take the battery to be tested tomorrow. I'd like to replace all the wiring with 0/1 gauge so I don't have to worry about connections and excessive resistance in 4 gauge wire (which is standard in some cars, so I figured it'd be ok in my Z), but that sh*t is expensive for what it is (nearly $2/ft for WIRE!). Thanks for your help though.

 

I know you said that you think the starter isn't dead, but if you accidently hooked up the battery cables backwards (easier to do then expected...but always makes you feel like an idiot), it could have blown something...maybe the starter, etc? I blew a voltage regulator on the 240z doing this....I felt REALLY dumb!

 

also. an hour later after dropping you the last comment. i realized from aviation. amps are the batteries life. if you cant get an amp reading off the battery that would be a huge problem if your trying to start your car. i would definatly start with the simplest cheapest test first and make sure your battery isnt toast before you continue. but you already stated this is pretty mush what you are doing.

 

Good points guys (and that's what I figured about the battery). I know I've never crossed the battery cables, but I'll take the starter to AutoZone to test it along with the battery anyway. Considering I have this issue posted on 3 forums and I've only gotten answers on this one, I really appreciate it.

 

could you possibly borrow a battery from a freind, or another car?

 

Well, I don't want to force my friends to go through the hassle of resetting all their stereo presets and junk like that (on my headunit, for example, it takes me 10-15 minutes to reset all my settings for the EQ, output, inputs, radio stations, background, etc). What I think I'll try is jump starting the car, but bypassing the battery (disconnecting my battery completely and connecting the jumper cables directly to the ground and power wires). Thus far, I've only tried jumping the car with the battery connected, but if the battery has a bad cell, that wouldn't make a difference.

If bypassing the battery doesn't solve it, the starter is definately going in to be tested... it's still under warranty, so it's no biggie for me, other than the slight hassle of getting dirty removing it.

 

people havent answered, cause you so thouroughly went through everything. lol. you leave not so much room for suggestions. your a machine man. but ive actually had trouble starting a car before bypassing the battery as well. so i wouldnt completly eliminate that thought if bypassing the battery doesnt work, just be less skeptical i guess.

 

holey jeez. i thought of this. but your for sure you hear the selenoid, and the starter kicking out the sprocket? cause, this happened to my friends galant VR-4. the sprocket was stuck out on the starter, you could hear the selanoid, but it wouldnt cranck. we puch started it (we were in ohio) and yeah. we had to drive it like that. cuase we were in ohio and lets say that is a negatory. driving with the starter engaged, it eventually got louder so you knew the starter was out, we were just waiting for it to fail, instead it sent a charge back threw his system, destroyed his wiring harness, and completly melted the metal wire in all of his ground wires. small electrical fire on the wiring harness, melted the rubber in his steel braided clutch line, lost all clutch fluid, i was a F'ing mess. so that is another thought with a side story, make sure the starter is not stuck engaged.

 

I'm positive the starter isn't stuck engaged; I removed the starter and checked each function (gear engaging and spinning) independently - both functioned fine. It seems to me like it's just not spinning when it's on the car (the clicking sound is the gear moving onto the flywheel). Obviously that could be a function of not getting enough power from the battery or the wiring, but attempting to jump the car while bypassing the battery will likely tell that tale.

Like I said, I'll have both the battery and starter tested at AutoZone later today... White Sox game is on and we really need this win, so the car isn't a huge priority at the moment (if I can't fix the damn thing, it gets stored early for winter and I drive my winter car).

 

if you don't mind rewiring the car, i have some 20ft or so of 0/4 gauge wiring that would work well for your application. I was going to use it in my car but ultimately didn't. You can have it if you like, it's just taking up space here.

 

lol, I actually JUST got in from installing all new 2 gauge wire (it was 2 gauge to begin with, not 0/1 as I had thought) from the battery directly to the starter, so there are no splices that could be bad. I'm thinking it's the starter... which is ok since it's still under warranty. It'll be tested tomorrow. Thanks anyway though!

 

... the f*cking starter was dead... got a new one under warranty, am installing it tomorrow. Thanks for you help guys... just goes to show that, though unlikely, even new parts can fail on you.