Help!!!!!
 

Ok guys, I am in dire need of some assistance. Here is the situation...I just arrived in Florida this morning after driving all night from Texas. I parked the car in my parents drive and a few hours later went out to start her up and she wouldn't crank at all. When I turned the key to allow the glow plugs to warm up, the GP Relay made a vile noise and when I turned the key further, the engine did not even attempt to turn over, it just made a single clicking noise. The noise from the GP Relay sounded like the relay opening and closing really fast. I did notice earlier this morning,while driving the car, that when I turned my lights off, my tach jumped up about 500 RPM. The same would happen if I turned the radio off. The car in question is my '84 300D. Up to now, it has been a very reliable car with no problems. I could use any and all advice given on this issue. Thanks in advance.

Mike

This sounds to me like the alternator is out and you were running on power that was left in the battery. Put the battery on a charger, start engine and check the output of the alternator. It maybe toast. Good Luck!!!

I had a problem similar to this about 35 years ago. The ground was bad to the engine block. I'd check battery connections first, then the battery, then the ground connection to the body or block and finally the connection at the starter..

I have no idea if this is your problem, but it is where I'd start.

Good luck.

battery.
clean ground and positive terminals and replace. if that doesn't work then suspect either battery totalled and/or alternator not charging. if battery holds charge ok then maybe just alternator brushes bad.

charge battery and check fan belts.

A voltmeter is very useful for diagnosing alternator or battery problems ( cheap $10 voltmeter from Radio Shack will do). First place voltmeter directly on battery terminals before you do anything else---you may or may not read 12 volts---if a few volts less than 12 you have low charge or a dead cell---if you have initial 12 volt reading, have someone turn on lights or try to crank---if voltage drops to significantly low voltage you again may have low charge or dead cell---try charging battery and do same voltmeter check again---if voltage still drops after charging you have bad battery---if engine cranks after charging battery, your battery is not being charged by alternator. With a good battery your initial voltage reading will be about 12 volts---after cranking engine, this voltage will climb to 13 to 14.5 volts if the alternator is OK. If, after cranking engine, the voltage remains at about 12 volts you have a bad alternator. If you eliminate the battery or alternator as the problem, time to check the ground circuits---which is another subject. Of course, as mentioned in previous posts, first make sure battery terminal connections are not corroded.

Thanks to all who responded. The problem was the alternator. I took it off yesterday and ran it up to AutoZone and had them test it out for me. It tested bad. Unfortunately they did not have one in stock, as well as every other parts store in town as well as the dealer. So, I ordered one through a local parts house and they received it in today. I installed it today and she seems to be working fine again. I did take advantage of AutoZone's free battery charging service last night while I was waiting for my new alternator to arrive. There was one minor problem while installing the new alternator...I cracked the little nipple that comes off of the top of the radiator. I used some JB Weld to fix this little problem and it appears to be holding for now. I will be ordering a new radiator once I get back home to Houston. A short time back, some one posted that they had found an all metal radiator. After my little incident today, that seems to be the way to go in the future. If someone can let me know where they found that all metal radiator, I would sure appreciate it.

Thanks again,

Mike

Mike,

You should have looked at the brushes first. A $5 set of brushes would probably have fixed the altenator with out even taking it off the car. I always carry an extra set in the car with me although the last set I put in was 11 years and 120,000 miles ago. But I figure its almost time to replace them again.

P E H

I may have gone that route if I hadn't been 600 miles from home. I needed to make sure I got it fixed, and quick, so I could make the drive back to Houston on Saturday. I didn't know how much time it would take to get the alternator delivered due to the holidays and I wasn't positive that the alternator was the problem. In the future I will probably go that route, but hopefully won't have to do so for several years. The alternator I replaced was not the original one...it was a NAPA alternator. I did replace it with a Bosch one.


Thanks for the reply on the radiator Bill. Hopefully my JB Weld patch will hold and I won't have to replace it anytime soon. If I do have to replace it though, it will be with an all metal one so I don't ever ahve this problem again.

Mike