help!

[accord95]

sorry if this is a dumb question but im clueless. my wife has a 90 dodge dakota and everytime i try to start it, it just makes clicking sounds. the battery is dead, radio doesnt work and lights dont work. i tried to jump it but that did nothing except make the radio and lights work, and it still just makes a clicking sound when i turn it over.

[Levi]

are your connections clean on the battery? They need to be shiny and clean and tight to work right.

Sounds like just not enough juice in the battery.. try making a new ground from the battery to the engine, maybe your grounds are bad..Dodge are known to have electrical problems..

[accord95]

could it be the starter? someone i work with told me that the clicking sound means the starter has gone bad.

[340 Dak]

didnt you say the battery is dead? Put in a good battery and try, dont just jump it. The clicking is the solenoid working. Usually if the battery has some juice, but not enough.. it'll click the solenoid still, but not have enough to turn the starter. Fiddle around with the jumper cables if you still need to use them, make sure they have a very good connection. Sometimes if the battery is dead enough, you cant jump it. Let it charge for a bit too before you start it.. make sure to rev the motor good on the charging vehicle.

It could be the starter... but if you know you have battery problems, i'd start there.

I'd switch batteries and make sure the terminals are clean and tight first

[Clint]

you can take the battery to like autozone and they will charge it for you for free (it takes a while) and if it doesnt charge they will happily sell you a new one.

[accord95]

thanks for the help guys. im gonna pull the battery out of my car and put it in the truck and see what happens.

[accord95]

i put my batter in her truck, made sure it was hooked up right. saw a couple sparks, now my batter is dead????? WFT happened?

[340 Dak]

what makes you say its dead? What happened when you turned the key?

[accord95]

Originally posted by 340 Dak
what makes you say its dead? What happened when you turned the key?

i put the battery out of my car in her truck and tried to start it. got the clicking sound and some sparks. put the battery back in my car, my car wont start.

[340 Dak]

I would go ahead and say the starter and/or solenoid is toast. Its causing a dead short when it clicks. Did you get a charge back in the battery and it works fine in the car? Hope we didnt hurt it!

Id change the starter next.. anyone else agree?

Did it just do this one day? or was some work done on it and then this happened?

What engine is in the Dakota?

[accord95]

Originally posted by 340 Dak
I would go ahead and say the starter and/or solenoid is toast. Its causing a dead short when it clicks. Did you get a charge back in the battery and it works fine in the car? Hope we didnt hurt it!

Id change the starter next.. anyone else agree?

Did it just do this one day? or was some work done on it and then this happened?

What engine is in the Dakota?

one thing i did notice was that the terminals werent real tight. everyone has told me its the starter.

bad thing is, the truck is at the top of the seminole indian casino parking garage. and they cant get a tow truck up there because the ceilings are so low.

it worked fine on the way to work, when she got in to drive home everything was dead.

the engine is a v6

[340 Dak]

the terminals would without a doubt cause the starter to just click and not actually turn the engine. Like i said before, the terminals could be on and be letting some power which would make the radio, lights, and solenoid work... but when you put the HUGE draw from the starter motor, it wont pass it. Sometimes it WILL spark on the terminals some. Terminals are strange... even if you cant even wiggle them by hand, they still could be too loose. Sometimes you have to smack them with a hammer.

The only thing that doesnt fit is that the battery died. That would be caused by a huge draw.. and even that is strange in such a short time. Thats why I figured that maybe a main power wire shorts out inside the starter when you turn the key.

Is it an auto or 5spd? Is there a way you could push start it? Hehe.. what about just coasting down the parking garage? LOL, its all downhill!

A starter isnt too bad to change on those things... could you do it in the parking lot?

[340 Dak]

another thought... seeing as how you are having bad luck with terminals... lol... could you have put the battery back in the car and not got them on tight and thats why you think its dead? Did you get the car back going and any problems since?

[340 Dak]

Lori! Get out of the old school!

He wont have a ballast, and the relay is in the PCM

:p

[accord95]

Originally posted by 340 Dak
Is it an auto or 5spd? Is there a way you could push start it? Hehe.. what about just coasting down the parking garage? LOL, its all downhill!

A starter isnt too bad to change on those things... could you do it in the parking lot?

thanks alot for helping me out guys. im going tomorrow to try a new battery. i have a battery terminal cleaner/ wire brush and i'll make sure everything is tight.

the clicking noise is rapid. when i put my battery in, i saw a spark on the positive side and still just clicking. then i put the battery in my car and it was dead. luckily i had a new battery for my CRX with me to start my car. i wasnt about to put that battery in her car and have another bad battery. i put the battery back in my car when i got home, the radio and lights worked but the car would still not start until i put my new batter in it.

i thought about trying to push it down hill. but the parking garage is huge! after going down one floor i would have to push it all the way to the other end to go down to the other floor. its probably about 75-100 yards long.

if the new battery doesnt work then im gonna use my dads truck and get one of those u-haul tow things that just the front tires go on. then once i get it home i'll try to work on it.

plus, do you guys know of any honest machanics? i brought the truck to this shop by my house for a leak in the break line. the guy calls my wife and says its gonna be $750.00. turns out he replaced the rotors, drums, pads and fixed the leak. and all i told him to do was fix the leak!

[accord95]

oh, and its an automatic v6

[340 Dak]

i'm my own honest mechanic

[accord95]

Originally posted by 340 Dak
i'm my own honest mechanic

if you wanna look at this truck i will pay you. if not, thats cool too. i just really appreciate the advise you guys have given me.

if so, i live in temple terrace. thanks. i'll let you guys know how it turns out.

[340 Dak]

tell me when you get it home and whatnot. VERY soon i'll be spending a lot of time with my dak, so i wont have interest in doing anythign else! no offence!

But let me know and i'll see whats on my plate

[accord95]

i appreciate it.

[340 Dak]

no prob. Its a dakota, so its on my good side. Turbo cars can lick my nuts right now

speaking of licking nuts, tomorrow is PS pump day on the R... if it doesnt rain. Ive been putting it off for too long

[Levi]

PS Pumps are fun...Try doing 6 of them on a Charger GLH-S just to find out the bracket and pump are specific for the GLH-S...LOL

[340 Dak]

that fuckin pump can lizick my nizuts!!!

hahahhhaha

it was a pain in my fuckin dick. Im sure the next time it'll be much easier since i spend like 15 min trying to get a bolt back in, then found out if i moved one thing it would go right in. Could be worse i guess, but it still sucked. Luckily its not a frequent thing

[340 Dak]

Originally posted by Levi
PS Pumps are fun...Try doing 6 of them on a Charger GLH-S just to find out the bracket and pump are specific for the GLH-S...LOL

the pump actually looked just like the one on our TBI shadow... same bolts in the same place at least. My Spirit's is all different. Im sure the bracket is a little different too in an L. I think i would have pulled the engine and then burned the car to the ground if i had to do 6 of them!!

[accord95]

i just went and got the dakota battery tested and it was fine. so now im gonna pull the starter and have it tested. i also bought the book for it.

[340 Dak]

kickass... good luck!

:bigthumb:

[accord95]

guys, i feel to stupid! i called tony(400hp930) and asked him to take a look at the dakota since he is a hummer machanic for reeves. i overlooked something so minor and almost wasted more money and time. we cleaned the terminal and she started right up. the terminal didnt look bad at all, thats why i didnt think it was the terminal. oh well, learned my lesson.

thanks for the help guys.

[340 Dak]

ug! i told you that all along! hahaahah

i learned my lesson with terminals too

glad to hear its running, and congrats on the shorter name :lol: