alright im having a problem with my car and its driving me nuts(tempted to take baseball bat to it).The car is a 1990 Ea Ford Falcon.I paid $600 for it in Febuary.I didnt buy it from a caryard i brought it of a lady who ive known since i was about 8 and shes a good friend of my mum.The cars done about 250000kms and it was brand new in 1990 and she hasn't thrashed it out.When i got it the only problem with it was the speedo was a bit faulty(sometimes it worked,sometimes it didnt).Since then ive had a problem with the lock on the drivers side door.Other than those 2 problem the car was running fine.I was driving it 2weeks ago and it was running fine.last monday I went to start it up and it wouldnt start i looked under the bonnet and the positive batery terminal was covered in green puss.Since then ive cleaned the puss, checked oil and coolant.brought a jump starter kit yesturday and tryed to jump start it today.All i get is 2 lights on my dashboard(battery light and handbrake light) and its making a clicking sound.I know the water pump is under warrently as it was replaced just before i brought the car and the car was serviced aswell.Any ideas as to what could be wrong with it??????I dont have many tools but ive got a bit of mechanical knowledge and i could possibly borrow tools.
Battery could be completely at the end of it's life or might just need a proper charge. The clicking is probably the starter motor being unable to fire into life due to dead battery. If all works after a proper charge and the battery goes dead days/weeks later then it's usually either a connection draining the battery (a nightmare to troubleshoot obviously) or the alternator isn't doing it's job. Don't forget to shine a torch into the battery compartments and check the acid is up the right level ie covering the metal whatchyamacallit's. Also check there's not a large buildup of crud in the compartments, the metal whatsits under the acid should be clean. The green crud is just a buildup/corrosion that forms, you can solve that by smearing on some battery terminal grease.
I'm with creaky. I think it's a bad battery and probably the easiest and cheapest to fix. The clicking noise is a dead giveaway. I think that is a solenoid but not sure. How old is the battery? Take the battery in and have them test it and get yourself a new one.
well i had some success a few hours ago.got the car started with my brother(&his car) and a couple of electric wires(not the safest way to jump start a car)it started took it around the block a few times.it was a bit smokey(from the exhaust) but apart from that ran fine.battery doesnt want to charge so going tomorrow to get a new battery and take the jump starter kit back as obviously it didnt work(hoping for refund).the water levels in the battery are fine but the corrosion on the terminals is a bit worrying.will post tomorrow and let you guys know when/if ive got it running.
The corrosion on the battery terminals is normal. Just clean them regularly or better still apply some sort of grease which will keep the corrosion away.
You can use any kind of grease on the terminals. In a pinch a vaseline gel will work as any special grease.
ok got the new battery and the battery terminals connected.what should of been a half hour trip to the shops turned into a 2hour nightmare.Im over stressed and only had 4hours sleep last night so im not gonna take my car for a drive.starts up fine and i will take it for a drive tomorrow morning and make sure everythings working fine.everything appears to be fine.will post tomorrow and lets you guys know.
Make sure the battery voltage is about 14V with the engine running...otherwise the problem is the alternator, and your new battery will be dead very quick.
ok took the car for a drive to the shops.starts up fine.exhaust isnt smoking heaps.cars running fine.the voltage meter is slightly over the 14volt mark.not sure if my foots got heavier or if the car has more guts in it.Think its a bit of both.thanx for your help everyone that posted.
ok car was running fine until yesturday.This time i think the water pump is damaged or needs replacing or something.the car makes a screaching sound when running and its coming from the fan in front of the radiator under the bonnet.I know the fan is connected to the water pump.I'm guess its just a matter of driving to a local mechanic and having the water pump replaced.my question is how much should this cost????is there anything else that could be making the fan screach???
ok,disconnect the belt,or belts and manually check each pulley to see if its seized.even before you do this check for loose belts.seeing as youve had starting charging problems make sure the alternator belt is tight.by the way,ive been an automotive technician for almost 30 years so im not just talking with a paper arsehole.not meaning to sound arrogent,just trying to qualify my advice.cheers Al.
well none of the belts feel loose.I dont want to take them off cause if i cant get them back on its another problem.taking the car to a mechanic tomorrow to get it looked at.just spoke to my brother and he said straight away its probably the fanbelt(think you were spot on aldan).so hopefully it wont cost me a fortune and it will be running fine in a day or 2.
good luck.sound like an english auto so i dont have info at hand.over here most have serpentine belts ie one belt.makes it easy.when you find a good mechanic keep him,they are hard to find.Al.
well i went to the mechanics and its the bearings in the pulleys that are the problem.hes just fixed it.gonna costs me $170.about to get my shoes on and catch a taxi to go get it. edit:just drove home and the cars fine.had a look at the old pulleys and yeah there pretty much stuffed.
