Hey guys ive had all the luck lately, last month i had a dead alternator voltage regulator which i got fixed by a friendly auto electrician, I also got a nice new century extra heavy duty battery cos my old one was 5 years old. Now driving the car with a new battery and non functioning alternator 300km flattened the new battery, so i charged up the old one and put it in, the problem then got fixed and i kept driving with the old battery.

Now comes the strange bit, I put in the new battery 3 days ago, it is fully charged and seems to be running fine. I did however notice that my idle was suddenly quite low to the point where i stalled it about 3 times even with the clutch in. This happened one last time at an intersection where i couldnt start it again. So i parked it and noticed that the bolt for the battery terminal has broken so it wasnt getting a good connection but after replacing it and giving the terminals a really good clean it still wont kick over unless i roll start it. At the moment its seemingly not even attempting to use the starter motor it just gives a slight whirring noise. Also after roll starting it i heard a strange whirring noise from in the dash on the passengers side and the idle is still low and wanting too stall on me.

Any ideas on what would be the cause would be very helpful.

Sounds like your new battery went flat and your alt isn't charging right, low idle will probably be caused but your cars ecu being cleared when your keep changing batteries etc.... (also check the cable to your maf, if this was bumped out you will get a horrible idle and stalling)

Get it running, wedge the accel on slightly (if req) to keep it running in neutral and check out the voltages at the battery terminals, if the voltage is >13V your car is fine and you just need to run it for a while to charge up the battery anything less while the car is on and you alt is gone.

After you get your charging system all running again and have a full battery, disconnect battery for a good 10 mins then plug it back in and start the car and let it run in neutral for about 10 mins till it idles nice.

That makes sense the only thing I can see to go against that is i know the battery terminals are very clean and have a good connection and i drove from gold coast to brisbane which is 100km and its still got a crap idle and wont start. Youd think if it was going to charge it would have by then. Also the battery seems fine with all other electrics, as in lights arent dim at all, stereo goes fine etc.

OK update on my car its still not going, been a frustrating few weeks. Here is a basic wrap up of what has happened

Regulator went on the alternator just before christmas and got replaced by an auto electrician 250km from where i live in nsw, dad knows the guy so we thought he was trustworthy.

on about the 5th of Jan my car dies while driving, jump start it to a friends place whos boyfriend is a mechanic, says the alternator is dead, take it out and there is a crack in the regulator, the auto elec. has obviously dropped it and it has smashed the circuit board which shorted it out.

So the alternator was replaced with a near new wreckers one. Car doesnt start.

We realise the immobaliser is busted, so it gets rewired and is now working again.

Then realise the starter motor is dead too so replace it with a wreckers one which is dead, replace it the next day with a better one that seems to work fine.

BUT the car still isnt kicking over. Its been 4 weeks and the dude thats been working on it is taking forever and i need a car badly. Any ideas on what it could be? I have noticed the oil light is on which never was before. Im thinking maybe the fuel pump is busted??

Either way i need it fixed ASAP, was thinking of ringing a mobile mechanic to do it but i thought id check here first to see if anyone knew what it might be left to do.

Also whats the thoughts on approaching the auto elec who worked on it? It was definately his fault that everything blew, is he liable? do they normally have a warranty or insurance to cover this kind of thing?

If I'm right the engine spins over but just wont fire when you try start it? Have you checked each plug is sparking, it sounds like an electrical problem with the ignition. As for the oil light, it will probably won't go off until the car is running, as there is nothing spinning the pump.

It would be a worth a try to visit the auto elec again, chances are you probably won't get any cover from it, as you can't prove it wasn't just a faulty regulator. But I'd give it a go.

Also whats the thoughts on approaching the auto elec who worked on it? It was definately his fault that everything blew, is he liable? do they normally have a warranty or insurance to cover this kind of thing?

Depends how good they are with customer service i suppose, in my old car my alternator went, took it the auto electrician, they replaced it with a refurbished one with no warranty, few days later got the same symptoms, car didnt make it back into town from where i was, had to leave car on the side of the road, rang up the auto electrician and told them what happened, they organised an auto electrician to go out and replace it with a brand new one for free, i was very happy about this and always take my car back to them, so yeah i guess it depends on how nice they are and how much they want to keep you as a customer.

The chances of the reg having caused anything more than a flat battery are that remote it is not even worth thinking about

Does the engine crank or is the whole lot just dead

Have you tried another battery alltoegether as sometimes the dead battery will drain too much from the donor car for it to start the dead car.

When you do get it running, do a charge test this time to make sure you are getting a charge

And also do not blame the auto elec, the reg could have been damaged before he even received it and being new may not have been noticable.

The chances of the reg having caused anything more than a flat battery are that remote it is not even worth thinking about

Does the engine crank or is the whole lot just dead

Have you tried another battery alltoegether as sometimes the dead battery will drain too much from the donor car for it to start the dead car.

When you do get it running, do a charge test this time to make sure you are getting a charge

And also do not blame the auto elec, the reg could have been damaged before he even received it and being new may not have been noticable.
The reg is noticably cracked, it has definately been dropped so i definately blame them, the reg is what caused the alternator to short which in turn fried the immobaliser and starter motor.

These have been replaced and it just not quite kicking over, sounds like it is close tho. the battery is fine its new and been charged up.

Basically what i need to know is what the last link may be. after the alternator blew i could still roll start it fine but since then the oil light has come on and i havent had anywhere to roll start it because its been stuck in a driveway.

I cannot get it back too the original auto electricians either because it wont start and they are 250km away

Just to clarify, at this point is the engine cranking when you try to start and just not catching, or, is the engine not turning over at all?

I had the hall sensor in the distributor go in my old 4cyl TR. Engine would crank but not catch. This happened about two hours after I had jump started it. I think I fried some of the electrics.

I understand the repair is to put in a replacement dizzy (cheap from the wreckers) or get new components ($200). That's what the RACQ guy said.

You in the RACQ? Just tell them it wouldn't start and see what he diagnoses. They are pretty good at that.

yes the engine is cranking. just wont kick over. i dont have racq but im thinking i better join up. its at the house of a perfectly good mechanic but he is just a lazy ******* who wont do me a favour and help get it started.

Hope you get it sorted soon. If there's noting obvious like a wire hanging off it looks like you need a mech to take a look.