ok this all started this morning, last night my car was running great as usual. I got home, armed the alarm, woke up this morning and unarmed it before getting in. I turn the key to the on position before trying to crank it, everything turned on as usual (dash lights, cd player, etc...) i push in the clutch and try to start it...I hear a click come from the enging bay and everything turned off (lights, cd player etc). after this happened my alarm started going nuts...making loud random sounds I've never heard it make before. I tried dis-arming it and it wouldn't, I had to go under the hood and unhook my battery. By this time i was already late for work so i said **** it and took my moms car. anyways i figured it was the battery so I went to jokezone and bought a new battery. installed the battery....same thing happened. Autozone guy said since my alarm is fucked up it can mess with everything, including the ingnition and starter. Any ideas?

oh yeah , my lude is a 96 si and the alarm is a "Rattler?"

anybody have an idea of how i could totally unhook the alarm to see if that fixes my problem?

 

Sounds like the battery to me. If it were the alarm, you would not get a click from the starter solenoid. Did you charge up that battery you just bought?

To disconnect the alarm, you can find the box (most likely under the driver's side dash) and unplug it or take out the inline fuse. Most cheaper alarms will be completely disconnected like that, although a nicer one will not let the car start if it is disconnected.

 

This usually happens when my battery is almost fully discharged.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BrokeLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like the battery to me. If it were the alarm, you would not get a click from the starter solenoid. Did you charge up that battery you just bought?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well If just bought a brand new battery (Duralast) wouldn't it be fully charged?


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BrokeLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
To disconnect the alarm, you can find the box (most likely under the driver's side dash) and unplug it or take out the inline fuse. Most cheaper alarms will be completely disconnected like that, although a nicer one will not let the car start if it is disconnected. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Where is the inline fuse located for the alarm?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hoehouseworker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well If just bought a brand new battery (Duralast) wouldn't it be fully charged?


Where is the inline fuse located for the alarm?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just because the battery is new does not mean it is fully charged. They lose charge rather quickly when allowed to sit without recharging. Also, make sure it is full of water. If not, fill only with distilled water.

The alarm fuse will be located somewhere along the power wire that you can trace from the alarm brain. It is usually a red wire. You can also just unplug the wiring harness from the brain itself.

 

Alright thanks for all your help guys

-dylan-

 

edit: ok i did what you said...I looked under the drivers side dash and there is about a billion wires and harnesses. I have no clue what to look for...you said a black box but i didnt really see one that didnt look OEM. some say denso on them and one box says like "cont auto cruise" or something like that, I figure thats the cruise control. other than that I have no clue. I found a red wire in my engine bay that comes from the alarm megaphone, and I figured that has to connect to the alarm brain. the red wire goes from the megaphone, under the fuse box and through the firewall i think but i cant find the red wire under my passenger side dash so I'm at a complete loss. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

another edit: ok I finally found the fuse, unhooked it. Alarm doesnt go crazy anymore. I also tested the battery, it has a full charge.

Now when i try to start the car the starter just clicks really loud and fast. Everything else works (lights, CELs, cd player etc). Does this mean i need a new starter?

I searched and found that sometimes when you tap the starter w/ a hammer it will start but that didnt work.

 

When the starter clicks like that, it usually is because your battery is low. It is the solenoid you are hearing. If it just clicked once, that would mean that the solenoid is engaging, but the starter isn't turning since the motor doesn't turn over. When it clicks multiple times, that is normally because there is barely enough juice to engage it and hold it there.

What did you do to check the charge on the battery? Hook up a set of jumper cables and see if anything changes when you do that? Also, you can bridge the two connectors on the starter to see if it will crank that way. If it does, then there is an electrical problem between the switch and the starter.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BrokeLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
What did you do to check the charge on the battery? Hook up a set of jumper cables and see if anything changes when you do that? Also, you can bridge the two connectors on the starter to see if it will crank that way. If it does, then there is an electrical problem between the switch and the starter.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I can start the car by jumping it. maybe i didnt check the battery right I was just going of the little meter on the front of my batter charger. How long does it usually take to charge a battery? overnight? Its a pretty slow charger. How would i bridge the connectors on the starter?

 

If it starts by jumping, there is no need to bother with bridging the connectors.

Make sure the water in the battery is at the top and let it sit on the charger overnight. Tomorrow it should be ready to go.

 

thanks a lot man, if that doesnt work I will post again tomorrow

 

well the car is still doing the same thing, I dont think my battery charger works. I dropped it last night but i figured it would be ok, i guess not. how much do battery chargers run?

 

Wait, I am confused here. Do you think your alternator is going bad?? You shouldn't need a battery charger if your alternator is working fine.

Are you sure there isn't a constant drain on the battery once you turn off the car??

EDIT: Can you put the battery in another car and test it to see if the other car starts fine??

Based on yoru description, I think your alternator is bad. If you need a replacement, let me know. I have one from my Si motor.

 

Did you disconnect the battery from the car when you charged it? Did you make sure it was full of water? When you jumped the car, would it stay running after disconnecting the jumpers?

Basically, if it starts by jumping it, there is no reason why it wouldn't start with a good charged battery.

 

EDIT: ok so its not the batter, i put my moms good battery in my car and the starter still clicks like crazy and the engine wont turn over. I put the new batter in her car and it started right up. My car starts right up when i jump it. So is my problem w/ the starter or the alternator?

 

bump for help

 

This is definately a puzzle.

Is your moms car *super small* ie the CCA (cold cranking amps) of the battery may not be enough to turn over a prelude. Doubt that but need to check, preludes are small cars in the 1st place.

Couple things to do are:

1) CHARGE the new battery to eliminate that as variable.
2) Check the wires, corroded / cracked / loose ones lead to high resistance causing more current drain requirements when you start - indicated when you jump (double up the batteries) the car it works.

BTW, to check if your battery charger is working check the voltage of the battery before and after you start charging. If the voltage goes up w/ the charger it's probably working. It should go up to 13+ volts. Alternately you can measure the current but thats not as easy as measuring voltage, but probably a better test.

It's been a while maybe you got if fixed already, if so let us know what the fix was.

Good Luck!

 

yeah problem was fixed about two weeks ago.

Turns out all along it was a dirty battery connector (negative). The first thing i looked at when I encountered this problem was the connecters, and they seemed to be clean. All I did was wipe off excess corrosion w/ a towel. Later on down the line after I figured out it wasnt the starter/alternator I remembered someone saying you can use coke to clean corrosion b/c of high acid levels. So I figured what the hell and dipped both of the connectors in a glass of coke. It bubbled like crazy, so i figured it had to be working. I dryed them off, turned the key and bam...starterd right up. Haven't had a problem since. I kinda feel like an idiot for not checking them more thoroughly in the beginning but oh well, I learned a lot in the process. Thanks everyone for your help.