"Click" then nothing (0 volts)

[azruss]

before going to the trouble of pulling the starter you can test it. make a long jumper wire out of #16 or so wire with a 1/4" female spade connector on one end. pull the wire that fires the starter solenoid and replace it with the jumper. turn the key on and strike the other end of the wire on + battery post. If the starter fires, then the problem is the ignition switch or associated connections. make sure the car is in neutral.

[spider2081]

I'm confused, are you saying the voltage at the battery post on the starter solenoid measured 1 volt with the key in the start position or are you saying it dropped one volt to 11 volts.

[124JOE]

ok yes this happened to me
what I had was a neg cable that was not tight enuff
while searching I grabed the neg cable at the batt
and pulled right out of the connector on the batt


hope this helps.joe

[majicwrench]

A fully charged battery is 12.6+ volts. So you battery is either not fully charged or junk. Before you go tearing car apart on wild goose chase put in a charged/good battery.

12.3 volts is basicly dead.

IF it then wont start, like Mark said, you need a voltmeter or test light and you need to know how to find a voltage drop.

Come on guys.

[burgandy81]

I'm confused, are you saying the voltage at the battery post on the starter solenoid measured 1 volt with the key in the start position or...

Correct. 1 V at battery post of starter when key in start position.

Ground cables and battery Neg connections cleaned and tightened.

A fully charged battery is 12.6+ volts. So you battery is either not fully charged or junk. Before you go tearing car apart on wild goose chase put in a charged/good battery.

12.3 volts is basicly dead.

Thanks for this.

The 12.4 Volts was after a 6 hour 4Amp charge. The charger indicated a full charge and had adjusted itself to trickle charge.

This makes the most sense to me. I will see about the purchase of a new battery with part funding from the 5 year warranty.

I am in a temporary living condition with very limited access to tools so a new battery is the easiest fix.

[courtenay]

A decent battery shop should be able to test your battery before you replace it. It only takes a couple of minutes.

[spider2081]

If you measured 12.3 volts at the battery with the key in the start position and 1 volt at the starter solenoid with the key in the start position than there is likely a connection problem between the battery and the starter solenoid. Even a fully charged battery will measure a little less with high current draw, like a starter being energized, then it does with little or no current draw, like key off or in the run position.
Also its important to be open to more than one thing contributing to what appears to be a single problem. So you could have a poor battery and a poor connection.

[burgandy81]

Hi All,

Back on the road again. thanks for all the help.

And the winner was....... poor at connection between the components of my quick disconnect installed on the Neg post of the battery. After checking and re-cleaning all the grounds and connections I could find I had the battery out and the quick disconnect laying in the trunk. Having ignored it on every other cleaning mission I had a good look and sure enough the plates were a very light grey and covered in corrosion. Nothing powdery yet, just a film. Anyway, a quick sand of the mating faces and it was bright and shiny.

Back together, push the button and it jumps to life.

Thanks again,

Jordan

[4uall]

[AzzuraAzul1980]

burgandy81,

Did you ever find root cause of this click then nothing (0 volts) condition? I am experiencing similar condition. thanks.

BCD, 1980 Fiat Spider 2000 FI