Can some one help? Went to start my car about 30 min ago and nothing. Battery seems OK and heres the weird thing, the key barrel feels hot. Not the original battery but I have no idea how old it is. Pretty warm today aswell, mid 30's, but that hasnt bothered it in the past. Any help would be appreciated . Thanx.

Do you have a multimeter?

If not, call RACQ

Thanx for the quick reply, yes battery voltage was at 12.5, put it on the charger for a bit and it came up to 13.6 with no load. Reconnected and tried to start and it dropped to 12.5 without cranking over.(starting to look like the battery is NFG). Was curious about the keybarrel, seems like a short and I hate working behind a dash.;

If it were a short, which was bad enough to heat up the barrel, it would blow a fuse.

Check your fuses.

Another easy test, check the resistance between the -ive battery terminal and the chassis. Ensure that it is low, then check the voltage to the starter.

The starter motor has a very large cable DIRECTLY from the battery to a terminal on the starter "relay". The relay is then triggered by a much smaller wire from the ignition barrel, which then engages the big 12v to the starter and your car cranks.

Check that the starter 12v feed is still working, and that when cranking, the little black wire going to the starter gets 12v.

Thanx turbo_charade. I must be getting old, on a hunch I checked the electrolyte level in the battery(something I havent done in years), and lo and behold it was as dry as a camels armpit. Topped it up and whacked on the charger again, will give it a few hours and see what happens. Feel like a bit of a goose as I probably should have checked that first. DOH!

Also keep in mind if it is an automatic, put the bastard in P or N before starting. Secondly, if your car is equipped with an immobiliser, make sure that is off.

Also keep in mind if it is an automatic, put the bastard in P or N before starting. Secondly, if your car is equipped with an immobiliser, make sure that is off.

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: That reminds me of of my mate who couldn't start his TF, called RACQ and it was all just because it was in P

Thanx turbo_charade.
No problem Oscar :p

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: That reminds me of of my mate who couldn't start his TF, called RACQ and it was all just because it was in P


Mum's done exactly the same thing in my car when she borrows it... got a phonecall one afternoon, "your pos car wont start!" ooookay... i feared the worst; got to the carpark where she was and the car was in D.:doubt: She must have been in a hurry when she parked. Probably just turned the car off in D.

Mum's done exactly the same thing in my car when she borrows it... got a phonecall one afternoon, "your pos car wont start!" ooookay... i feared the worst; got to the carpark where she was and the car was in D.:doubt: She must have been in a hurry when she parked. Probably just turned the car off in D.


i do that all the time.lol

I did it after I put my new fuel rail mounts on, and was cursing for about half a minute before I figured out it was the gear position :bowrofl: