85 300D, Electrical to starter dead, battery light stays on with key removed

[charmalu]

Iam having an electrical problem with the 85 300D with the 4-speed manual trans. so no NSS.

Turn key to glow position, turn key to start. NOTHING, DEAD. No click of starter solonoid.
tried second time, no GP light. Only lights on dash are the Brake and the seat belt .

GP Relay does not click on or off. does have power to it.

Turn key to off position, and the Battery light stays on, even with the key removed.

Checked battery with volt meter, and have 12.2 volts Not good.

Put charger on for 1/2 hour or so, disconnected it. turn key, Dead.

check voltage at batt. 12.4, block 12.3, GP relay 12.3. Fuse checked 12.3 on either side.

Checked voltage at alt. 12.3 at big wire and 10.8 at small wire.

removed cables at battery, and clean.

Used a pair of needle nose pliers to jump across the terminal block, Nothing, Dead.

Ground at frame to eng. good and clean.

turned on headlights, nice and bright, horn strong, and windows go up and down.

Battery is 2 - 3 yrs old and proper size and rating, group 49 875 CCA.

I did up grade to a 115amp AL129-X alt, and ran new upgraded wiring from alt to terminal block, and a wire to battery. I left the original wiring to the batt, just added an additional. meter showed 14.5 volts out put.
Added this alt about 3 months ago

Belts are tight on the alternator.

I haven`t had any problems up to this morning. I did some searching, and Iam kindof leaning that it could be the alernator from some of the threads I went through. the Battery light staying on has me puzzled. I would think even at 12.3 volt the starter should click and or engauge. One thing I haven`t done is whang on the starter with some heavy blunt object, YET.

Could the batt light staying on be a ground problem?

Charlie

[Mazootpusher]

It does sound like a shorted or bad ignition switch,It's time to take a look under the dash,
to see if any of the ignition switch wiring is shorted to ground.
Did you try to jump start it from the block under the hood? to verify the starter motor condition.

Strange, 12v should be enough to spin it. Are you getting 12v at the starter itself? Have you tried a jumper cable from the neg battery terminal to the engine to make sure the ground is good? It might just be a starter failure b

[charmalu]

Yes, I did try to jump across the screws at the block under the hood, Nothing.

I just replaced the whole Ignition lock assembly with the vacuum shut off valve, $168.. maybe I should pull the instrument cluster to take a gander back in there. I just did this 2 mo ago. key turn smooth as butter.

Craig, I haven`t check the starter voltage. I`ll check that next and try a ground from the neg batt to engine.

Charlie

[charmalu]

I checked the voltage at the starter and show 12.1 on the large wire and 11.7 on the small wire.

I connect a jumper cable from the neg of the battery to the alt bracket and had sparks as I connected. that is telling me the ground strap from end to frame isn`t grounded good. with key in off position, there shouldn`t be any sparks, unless something else is on.

Turned the key, brake, batt, seat belt light came on, and GP light flashed for a second. engine very slowly cranked over.
so for now know GP light works.

The GP light has always come on, never had a problem with it.

turned off key and now battery light goes off.

Now have batt charger on.

Next on the list is pull it instrument cluster.

Charlie


Just went back out to double check things, connected ground from batt to alt bracket, no sparks, and starter will not click. now batt lights stays on

[Diesel911]

If jumper wiring the terminal block did not work I would think it is the wiring to the Starter Solenoid or the Starter Solenoid itself.

If it can be done safely try using 1 Jumper Cable clamped to the Electrical connection Tab/bolt that connects the Motor to the Solenoid and tap the other end of the Jumper Cable on the posative Battery Terminal.
That that should spin the Starter motor but not engage with the Flywheel. If it does not turn you have a problem with the Motor Part of the Starter.
Jumper wire the Starter Solenoid in a similar manner to see if the Solenoid activates and causes the Starter to crank.

[charmalu]

OK, all better now .

Thank you Diesel911. It is kind of tight quarters to clamp onto the starter bolts and screws. I had a short length of large gauge wire with a lug crimped to the end. I connected it to the plus (+) side of the battery, stripped the end back, put a short piece of tight fitting hose on the end. don`t like sparks . let it hang down next to the starter. climbed under and touched the different terminals. Nothing, not a click.

So has to be a grounding problem. the ground cable from the trans adapter plate to the frame looked tight and clean, can`t be that right.

I loosened the nut and had some sparks. removed the cable and wiped it all down with brake clean. but looking closer, the plate is painted, so sand papered it, tightened everything back up.

Touched the terminal block with the needle nose pliers, and the starter engaged YES. turned the key, all lights on the dash come on, even GP light. turned key, and the engine sprang to life. what a beautiful sound.
Clata Clata Clata.

Thank you for the help and encouragement. something so simple.

when I connected the jumper cable from the negitive batt post (-) to the alternator adjuster bracket and saw sparks, that should have woke me up, .

Charlie

Glad to hear it ended up being something simple/cheap.

[charmalu]

Metric Motors painted things up real pretty with silver paint. Iam a little over 22,000 miles now. haven`t really had a ground problem until I did the manual 4-speed swap. have 8000 miles since then.

then in April I pulled the engine again to remove the automatic and install the manual 4-speed. the last couple months I have had the temp gauge get erratic, and fluctuate. then jump up and peg ay the top. it is a little shocking to see the needle that high.

I turn the engine off the turn the key to on, and the needle drops back to a normal reading. start the engine and the gauge might jump back up, or stay normal the rest of the day.

so maybe this ground strap could have been my problem there also. we`ll see.

Iam just glad it did this today in the front yard.

Charlie