So the battery was dying (I tested it by charging completely, left it overnight, turned the key in the morning and just the typical flat battery one turnover than dead), got a new battery, threw it in, turn the key and it done the flat battery again. So thought hmmmm, maybe the new battery has been sitting on shelf too long, I have no idea, just guessing. Put my tester on it, almost dead. Charge it back up, battery has full charge & now when you put the ignition on BEFORE trying to crank the engine, an electrical buzzing comes from the right side of the motor (looking at engine) but not in the fuse box from what I can work out and when you when you go to crank it, the buzzing than goes from there to inside the car at either the fuse box or the ignition, hard to tell where inside the car, but somewhere around there. My question is:

WTF IS WRONG WITH IT NOW??? After being all excited over engine changes etc, I am really starting to hate this thing having spent $280 on it last week on different things, about $900 over the past few months since I got it & thought it was mechanicaly sound, now this and I'm ready to accidentally drop a brick onto the accelerator while it's in drive & the same time it happens to be near a cliff edge.

Help please???

faulty alternator?

easiest way to check if it is alternator is start car and remove black lead to battery
if it dies it is the alternator :(
the alternator should run the car on its own if you dont have too much of a sound system

That clicking noise is the solenoids going off if you dont have enough charge to crank the car. Where did you get the replacement battery from? If it was old, take it back. Once you have a newly charged battery, it will stay charged and hold that charge. If you have an old battery, charge it all night, it doesn't matter because if its really old, it looses its ability to hold that charge. PS I am referring to acid style batteries here.

So if you get the battery swapped over, and its fresh and new and then starts today and dies tommorow, you probably have an alternator issue. The alternators job is to charge the battery while the engine is running. So if your alternator shat its dacks, then despite a new battery or not, she'll be dead again in the morning.

Finally if your alternator is fine, and battery is new, and its still going flat, you probably have an electrical issue where some part of your car is drawing power while its off. May need to check that out with an auto electrician, but common occurances can be lights, interior ones, like in the glove box, boot etc, or things like Amps or stereos not shutting off or being wired incorrectly to constant power rather than ignition/accessories.

Good luck mate.

:)

But why would the buzzing sound move from beside the motor when the ignition is on to inside the car when the ignition is fully turned to crank it?

The new battery is a dry cell, if that makes any difference.

The battery is new, only put in about an hour or so ago. The first turn of key done the dead battery thing of one turn than dead, charged it but now the clicking/buzzing and the tester says it died straight away.

Just a thought. My neighbour who's a retired fella who likes woking on the old volvos, mercs, jags etc, said it could be the voltage regulator playing up. After googling, the symptons do match up but they also match a dying battery, a dead alternator etc.

It's just odd how it can drain a brand new fully charged battery in 1 second flat, literally. The only way I can get it to start, and this was the case with the old battery too which may not have been the problem in the first place, is to charge the battery for about 15 minutes and with the charger still hooked up, turn the key and she fires straight up. But if I charge it than remove charger, also with the new battery, just one engine turn than dead & even the door open light on the dash fades or goes completely off.

Not doubting anyones thoughts, just throwing in more info if it helps to pinpoint it.

Had a similar dead battery symptoms with a Colt quite a few years ago. The mechanic put a new battery in & 3 days later the same symptoms re appeared. I pulled the starter motor out & found the pinion gear end bronze bush bearing was worn out which allowed the armature to move / contact the field coils in the starter motor housing. Fitted a new bronze bush & all was good.

Cheers

Ok, so would that cause a battery to completely drain within 1 second of turning the key? That's the key issue, that it immediately drains a battery as soon as you turn the key. I had my wife sit in it & turn the key when the battery is fully charged while I watched the tester and without fail the tester went normal to dead within 1 second if that.

Have you tried jump starting it?
Also have you made sure that you reconnected all wires to the battery?
There shoould be two wires on the positive terminal

Have you tried jump starting it?
Also have you made sure that you reconnected all wires to the battery?
There shoould be two wires on the positive terminal

Jump starting no, only because the nose is wrong way and can't get another car around it, but doing something similar with charger which kicks it over after charger for about 15 minutes.
Yep, all leads are on and nice and tight

Another funny note, now the car's locked itself and won't unlock via the remote or the key. Just simply can't get into it, so it's back on charge again to see if that lets me into car. Just spent the last 5 minutes laughing at the insanity of this.

I should have stuck with the old fords & holdens. Life was much easier without a crapload of electronics and computer.

Update: Ok, after a few minutes of recharging it's letting me back in, now to recharge fully, leave the charger on and see if she kicks over

get a multimeter and check the voltage at the output stud of the alternator. Should read around 14.4 (hopefully) and work from the information this gives you i guess.

Ok, so would that cause a battery to completely drain within 1 second of turning the key? That's the key issue, that it immediately drains a battery as soon as you turn the key. I had my wife sit in it & turn the key when the battery is fully charged while I watched the tester and without fail the tester went normal to dead within 1 second if that.
It didn't drain/flatten the battery in the colt. If your tester is indicating normal to dead in 1 second then feel the battery cables to see if they are getting hot due to excessive current being drawn. You could also try the new battery in another car to rule out the new battery being a dud.

Cheers

Funny you mention the hot cables, cause now I think of it, they were pretty warm before when my wife tried cranking it over while I was watching the tester...

The buzzing noise is the isc motor. I wouldn't try and start it with the charger connected chances are you will bugger the charger.

From memory it took my auto charger 2 days @ 3 amps to charge a magna battery before it turned itself off. If the battery voltage is low when trying to turn the engine over then the starter will take all the available power & leave nothing for the rest of the vehicle. The starter solenoid contacts may also suffer premature wear (pitting) due to low voltage & increased current draw / arcing across the contact faces.

Regards

Can you hear all the relays opening?
Turn car to ON then turn alittle to START and you should hear some clicks from the relays opening
Have you checked the fuses?
Might be a loose connection on the starter motor

You do have the battery polarity correct?

Yep, hearing a lot of clicks when ignition on, a lot more when ignition turned to crank engine, checked all fuses and they're fine.

Just spoke to a mate who's an auto-electrician/mechanic/electronics engineer & he just got back from holidays about 2 hours ago and rang to catch up. He's coming around tomorrow on a carton of grog bet that it's the starter motor sucking all the juice out of the battery. Will update the results so if anyone else has trouble, this might guide them a bit.

Thanks heaps everyone for your help, it's much appreciated. Btw, Magna Driver looks like he got it at the starter motor lol ;)

Well, it's the starter motor. He removed it, turned it over and it spun quite freely, but once he put it under load, it didn't wanna play ball. Smoke was coming out of it too, generally not a good sign lol

trust me mate all old cars can break down like this i spent thousands on my commodore in the last 12 months and before that i spent thousands fixing my magna all the time, i finaly bit the bullet and bought a new car with low kms and still under warranty, hopefully this one wont break down every few weeks

Yeah I know. Just letting off steam. Buying a car that's 14 years old with 212k on the clock, you gotta expect something to break. You play lottery with 2nd hand cars at the best of times. Some are great, some just need coaxing with 10 ltrs of petrol & a match...

thats the way it is, if its causing so many issues sell it and buy somthing newer!

I think my TF may have similar problem like yours. This morning it started with a bit of struggle, like the battery was about to drain, and after I stopped it didn't want to start - kept getting the clicking sound.

I had the battery changed in April when it was really the battery which was dead at that time. Now again showing similar symptoms, high beam is really dim and one will come to the conclusion it is the battery which is stuffed.

I just hope it is not the starter motor! I will get the mech to charge the battery up tomorrow.

I'm a complete n00b who paid $180 to replace the battery :) so here is a question - I never had to charge batteries before, this is my first battery change since it was purchased in 2006. Hope I got a shocking old battery sitting on the shelf for a while?, if that is the case should I ask for a new one or simply get it re-charged? The mech can defend saying its the owners fault as I probably left my lights on overnight which in turn triggered the drain. I know for a fact this is not the case with the TFs, as there is a warning beep if the headlights are left on before you close your door.

Batteries have a life of about 2 years, also check your terminals... crappy terminals will do the same thing (might get lucky)

so yea it was the battery supposingly have drained by an unknown source :hmm the case is not similar to the issue posted by OP, as the battery is still going ok since morning and I have stopped and started the car several times.

The mech being an old Italian guy was blaming the 'fancy' stereo system! I have had the stereo setup for nearly 3 yrs and had no probs till now! Anyhow, he has made me remove the fuse to the stereo and drive around without one in attempt to isolate the problem. He also checked the alternator and said its fine.

If it is the stereo, any ideas why??? Sorry to Hijack this thread as I felt no need to create another one for a similar starting issue.

TIA

If it is the stereo, any ideas why??? TIA

Stereos will drain a battery the power is looped. eg earthed back to the battery instead of the car body. Made that mistake when I was Installing my frist amp, ran the pos and neg cable direct from battery to boot would drain the battery every 2 - 3 days.

Sorry to Hijack this thread as I felt no need to create another one for a similar starting issue.TIA

lol no need to be sorry mate