'89 SC Won't Start , Please read and help

DakotaDevil77

Registered User
Hello all. I have a 1989 Thunderbird SC that I bought almost a year ago and have had no problems up until about a week ago.

The Problem: Car won't start

Its not the battery: I tested it and it is holding 12 V

Not the starter: The car turns over once but won't start but as soon as I jump it with Jumper Cables, it starts right up; no need to charge. Drove the car around for 30 minutes everything runs fine, park the start then try to restart right away and same thing, turns over once and won't start. I'm getting a clicking noise too from the cylonoid or however that's spelled.

I don't think its the alternator because the battery isn't dead. Like I said the battery is holding a charge and itsn't dying. Powerwindows rolling up and down at normal speed without a feel of power loss.

I have already replaced and cleaned the positive and neg battery terminals so I know that isn't the problem either.

What the heck else could it be???
 
DakotaDevil77 said:
Hello all. I have a 1989 Thunderbird SC that I bought almost a year ago and have had no problems up until about a week ago.

The Problem: Car won't start

Its not the battery: I tested it and it is holding 12 V

Not the starter: The car turns over once but won't start but as soon as I jump it with Jumper Cables, it starts right up; no need to charge. Drove the car around for 30 minutes everything runs fine, park the start then try to restart right away and same thing, turns over once and won't start. I'm getting a clicking noise too from the cylonoid or however that's spelled.

I don't think its the alternator because the battery isn't dead. Like I said the battery is holding a charge and itsn't dying. Powerwindows rolling up and down at normal speed without a feel of power loss.

I have already replaced and cleaned the positive and neg battery terminals so I know that isn't the problem either.

What the heck else could it be???
If you're 100% sure the battery is fine, check the battery cables front to back. Personally I'd replace the battery with a know good one or disconnect the cables from the battery and jump it off that way.
 
Check for corrosion at the block end of the negative battery cable. Check the connection at the starter. Check to see if the cables themselves are getting warm.
Clark
 
First Thing First

Have The Batt Load Tested To See If It Has Enough Voltage And Amps Under Load. Just Because A Batt Can Operate Windows And Other Items Does Not Mean It Has What It Takes To Crank An Eng And It Takes More Power To Crank A Hot Eng Than A Cold One. If Batt Is Good Passing A Load Test, Then Make Sure You Are Getting Voltage From The Alternator To The Batt You Want To See 13.6 To 14.3 Volts If Thats Ok Then Check The Starter To See What The It Takes To Crank It Volts And Amps The Starter Is Drawing While Cranking. It Is Possible That The Starter Windings Are Shorted.
 
USCFOOTBALL said:
Have The Batt Load Tested To See If It Has Enough Voltage And Amps Under Load. Just Because A Batt Can Operate Windows And Other Items Does Not Mean It Has What It Takes To Crank An Eng And It Takes More Power To Crank A Hot Eng Than A Cold One. If Batt Is Good Passing A Load Test, Then Make Sure You Are Getting Voltage From The Alternator To The Batt You Want To See 13.6 To 14.3 Volts If Thats Ok Then Check The Starter To See What The It Takes To Crank It Volts And Amps The Starter Is Drawing While Cranking. It Is Possible That The Starter Windings Are Shorted.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. Is it even possible for the starter to be the problem though, because like I said, if I jump it, it starts perfectly right away. Anyway I think I'm going to take it to the local shop tomorrow and see if they can figure it out. But keep the suggestions coming if you have more.
 
Now some trouble shooting needs to be done, I'm not really clear on your explanation on what's happening so.
My gut filling is starter

#1 First off voltage reading doesn't mean a thing when it comes to starting the engine it takes Amps a battery can have 12v but low amperage reading. The jumping with cables would indicate low amps in the in car battery but could also still be the starter and the extra juice from the jump is helping it at least for now if it is truly the starter that will also start to fail you.
#2 You say the car turns over once what does that mean? Does it crank normally? because you then state it makes a clicking noise. So it again points to the starter, if the battery is actually good.
#3 Now if all checks out and you have good cables clean posts and tight connections, a good battery that your sure has the cranking amps (have it tested if needed) not just a 12v reading but amps. and you still get a clicking noise from the starter with out the extra jumper help I still say its the starter.
 
Last edited:
jtgraphics said:
Now some trouble shooting needs to be done, I'm not really clear on your explanation on what's happening so.
My gut filling is starter

#1 First off voltage reading doesn't mean a thing when it comes to starting the engine it takes Amps a battery can have 12v but low amperage reading. The jumping with cables would indicate low amps in the in car battery but could also still be the starter and the extra juice from the jump is helping it at least for now if it is truly the starter that will also start to fail you.
#2 You say the car turns over once what does that mean? Does it crank normally? because you then state it makes a clicking noise. So it again points to the starter, if the battery is actually good.
#3 Now if all checks out and you have good cables clean posts and tight connections, a good battery that your sure has the cranking amps (have it tested if needed) not just a 12v reading but amps. and you still get a clicking noise from the starter with out the extra jumper help I still say its the starter.

Ok sorry I was unclear, I'll try to restate the story.

After work one day , I got into my car to go home. It cranked hard but started. I get home and then a couple of hours later needed to run to the store. So I go in , turned the ignition and the cranked for a while , then nothing but a clicking sound, which from what I understand is the cylinoid.

So I use my wife's car to try to jump it. Connect the cables, immediatly try to start my car as soon as the cables are connected and my car starts up perfectly. I then drive it around for a half hour, thinking it may be the battery or the alt. I park the car, shut it off, then try to restart it right away and it is completely dead and won't even crank. I am under the impression that if the battery or the alt is bad then it would have died while I was driving around, but it didn't . I just had the battery check a couple of months ago and it was correctly holding a charge. I did this because I had a similar problem but it turned out to only be the battery cables. They were just corroded and needed replaced.

Anyway, I guess maybe it is the battery or alt. But if it was the alt, wouldn't the batery light turn on , on the dash board indicating that there was a problem?

I was just trying to avoid buying a bat, or alt, if I didn't need it. But like I said , I'm just going to take it to the local shop and let them mess with it.
 
DakotaDevil77 said:
Thanks to all for the suggestions. Is it even possible for the starter to be the problem though, because like I said, if I jump it, it starts perfectly right away. Anyway I think I'm going to take it to the local shop tomorrow and see if they can figure it out. But keep the suggestions coming if you have more.
If the car starts with a jump at the battery terminals, and it won't start with just the battery in the car, then it's almost certainly your battery.
As was stated above, just because a battery is holding a charge, and reads 12V doesn't make it a good battery. Check the voltage again, but this time have a friend turn the ignition key, you are bound to see the voltage drop significantly. If it does, this indicates a bad battery.
I've had starters go bad before, but it happened pretty much all at once, and jumping certainly didn't help. It cranked fine one time, then the next time it cranked Painfully slowly, then the last time it cranked for like 1/2 second, and then the solenoid clicked, and it wouldn't crank at all after that.
If the car cranks for a little, then stops, and then the solenoid juct clicks, it most likely indicates a weak amperage from the battery.
 
91supacoop said:
If the car starts with a jump at the battery terminals, and it won't start with just the battery in the car, then it's almost certainly your battery.
As was stated above, just because a battery is holding a charge, and reads 12V doesn't make it a good battery. Check the voltage again, but this time have a friend turn the ignition key, you are bound to see the voltage drop significantly. If it does, this indicates a bad battery.
I've had starters go bad before, but it happened pretty much all at once, and jumping certainly didn't help. It cranked fine one time, then the next time it cranked Painfully slowly, then the last time it cranked for like 1/2 second, and then the solenoid clicked, and it wouldn't crank at all after that.
If the car cranks for a little, then stops, and then the solenoid juct clicks, it most likely indicates a weak amperage from the battery.

Ok , this sounds like what it has been doing. But if it is something as simple as the battery and if the battery is that shot , then would it really be that easy to jump the car? Like I said, as soon as the jumper cables are conected and I turn the ignition right away, it starts right up. I guess I just thought that if the battery was junk then I would have to leave the jumper cables on longer to get a good charge before it would start.
 
swap with the wifes car

Save yourself the hassle grab your battery take it to a battery shop and have it load tested and make sure you bring $60 for the replacement you're going to need.

This is exactly what happened to my car. For a cheap test swap batteries with your wifes car. (be sure to warn her, or not depending.)

sdw
 
DakotaDevil77 said:
Ok , this sounds like what it has been doing. But if it is something as simple as the battery and if the battery is that shot , then would it really be that easy to jump the car? Like I said, as soon as the jumper cables are conected and I turn the ignition right away, it starts right up. I guess I just thought that if the battery was junk then I would have to leave the jumper cables on longer to get a good charge before it would start.

Even a bad battery will have some amperage in it. In your case it doesn't have quite enough to turn the motor over, but when you add in a second battery, your over that magic number and away you go.

I've always laughed at voltage gauges in cars, as the only thing they are good for is to show if your alternator is actually working or not. If it is, you would see voltage between 13 to 14.5 volts, but on battery alone you would show about 12 volts. Now you can show 12 volts but the battery may only have the capacity of putting out 1 amps (maybe enough to light up the interior lights), or it can put out 650 amps but it will still show 12 volts. To show how good things are working, use an amperage gauge instead.

All it takes is one bad cell in the battery and thats it. In your case, be thankful thats more than likely your problem, cause after that, its starts getting expensive!

Frit
 
Thanks for the help all!

Well it turns out that is WAS just the battery. Thanks to all that helped, I was just afraid that it was a bigger problem. I got my T-Bird back!!!!
 
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