Hey
Yeah another problem, this car is a bag of tricks. Heres a story, magna was going fine driving it around town, get back to a mates place and when I go to leave it wont start like dead as, Lights still work everything works but wont even try to turn over.

Clutch started it got back to my place, turn it off and start it again kicks first time, Try it again and wont start. Today Ive done this same thing three times ie clutch it-drive-turn off-starts again-turn off-doesn't start and if its left sitting it wont start again. The battery has enough water, as far as I can see the fuses are unbroken, theres no warning lights in the car about not recharging. PLEASE HELP!!! I love this car but right now I would take pleasure in setting it on fire while dancing around it in a devil suit.

Is the battery old? Could need replacing, its usually something simple when you get nothing as opposed to the car spluttering.

Would it happen this suddenly though? Would there be any lead up to it to give notice the battery is about to put a dint in my day.

In the magna I had a couple of years back, when the battery died I noticed it would hesitate a little when starting. This happened about 3 or 4 times before it died.

Another common problem people been having laterly is the immobiliser plug around barral has had bad connections that stop car from starting..:)

Would it happen this suddenly though? Would there be any lead up to it to give notice the battery is about to put a dint in my day.


Short answer = yes.

One night I drove home from uni which is about 40mins, got home alright parked the car outside the garage. Couple of minutes later I came back to the car to move it into the garage, end result: alarm acted weirdly, lights were dim, but i was able to disarm the alarm. Tried to crank it up, but nothing, no juice at all.

Apparently if you have a very old battery, then it can happen suddenly!


I don't think its the immoboliser. The immoboliser would have prevented the ECU starting the car, thus even if you clutch started it like you did, then it wouldn't have come alive.

Cheers for the quick response. This arvo my mate is bringing his VS Commo around and we're gunna swap batteries (A AutoPro guy once told me commos and 3rd Gens share the same battery, This True?) to see what that does. I can't tell if lack of battery power is affecting anything else yet cause being day still I can't see if the lights are dimmed but my Headunit still works, C/L still works, interior light looks... on, but yea still can't even get through a single rotation of the engine.

I can't tell if lack of battery power is affecting anything else yet cause being day still I can't see if the lights are dimmed but my Headunit still works, C/L still works, interior light looks... on, but yea still can't even get through a single rotation of the engine.

these should still normally work because they dont require large amounts of power to work unlike the starter motor, the starter motor normally needs a decent amount of power to turn it over and if the battery doesnt have enough charge the starter motor cant draw enough power to turn over

probably is the battery, and yes, the late commo batteries are the same are 3rd gen magnas! 57's.. up to the VT that is! it's not the key ring antenna, otherwise the vehicle wouldn't start with a clutch start

Not sure if your back on the road or its still playing up. If the engine is warm to hot, it can also be the crankshaft sensor overheating, which if coated with road grime/oil/etc......can shut down and give you the same symptoms. On Commodores you can pour cold water onto them to cool;however Magna's are tucked away and access is limited.
Way to test is grab and old plug, stick it onto #1 ignition lead, leave the spark plug of the disconnected lead in the slot (cyl head) and crank. Engine will start. Refit lead to #1. Gives you a confirmation if its on the blink.

The Magna batteries are crap, can die at any time, if its still your factory one then theres your problem. If its a replacement battery, then see comments above.