Yes, correct. Nothing. Just a blank cluster.
Codes P0430 & P0304. Any help resolving these would be greatly appreciated.
- Thread starter ErnieG22
- Start date
10 years. Checked at O'Reileys with their handheld machine. Manager was thorough checking with car off and on. Battery, alternator and starter. I'm not sure if your read early in the thread, but I drove through deep rainwater after a downpour we had here last week. Not sure if that has anything to do with my current issue..
Yes I did switch the probes. What is the readings from the power port indicating?
AmsterDutch
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Yes I read every last letter on these post and it's very suspect that issues started to happen after driving through water....not jumping to conclusions but up here in we in the North have to be very wary of ppl trying to sell beautiful rust free cars from down south that have been through hurricane and other flooding situations ...many scammers out there preying on the rust belt states with ...water damaged cars but look so nice compared to Minnesota's rusty but trusty vehicles ....with that being said you could have damaged some circuitry or other components that are electrical....but always check the most common parts that are giving of the symptoms first ...fuses, starter, plugs, coils, ignition and battery
Ok, will do! Thanks for chiming in..
Battery is sufficiently charged. They said the readout indicated it's on the last quarter of its life. Whatever that means..
joegr
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It means that your batteries capacity has reduced to the point that it will need to be replaced within a year. (I would guess that it will leave you stranded on the first cold day of next winter.)
Ok. Should I run anymore tests once I install it? Or just see what happens?
Thanks, Joegr!
Still no start..
RigsLS
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Stop it man! It’s a car not a boat!
Of course the starter and alternator don’t like getting wet. Stop crossing small lakes with this thing. Ladies at the bus stop have been splashed enough now.
At the auto stores you can get one of those handy battery terminal post cleaners. Clean up your battery terminal post and cable connector. While you have both positive and negative disconnected, crawl under the car, find the starter, disconnect the cables and clean those connections up.
Refresh the connections to and from the alternator also.
Pull the fuse and starter relay. Re-seat then a bunch of times to refresh the possible corroded connections.
Put a trickle charger on the battery overnight.
Try again as already suggest.
New OEM vented battery in your future.
Not the news I wanted to hear. You mentioned that you were leaning towards the starter. Should I start there?
I forgot to mention that the cars headlights and taillights were dimming slightly every couple seconds after it started in the evening. Seemed like they were dimming with the fluctuation of the idle.
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Hahaha! Ok, no more bus stop splashing old ladies!
I do hear a faint sound coming from the fuse box area under the hood at times when attempting to start.
joegr
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I recall no such mention. Must have been someone else. You might check the starter relay before giving up... (But that wouldn't explain the cluster backlighting going off when turning the key to start while the headlights are on. That combined with the interior lights staying on makes this complicated -- unless I have misinterpreted the information you have related. )
Of course, a check of voltages at the starter is not a bad idea either. I have a post somewhere explaining what you should see on each terminal while the key is turned to start.
You stated that your first assumption was that the starter wasn't operational. I misread it. Ok, thanks a million!
RigsLS
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Battery cells get dry charged and burn out. Stinks like rotten egg when it gets real bad. Battery feels warm and a yellowish green corrosive fluid begins to leak out the seams. That’s a severe case and a potentially dangerous one.
Sounds to me like your battery doesn’t have enough cranking amps to kick it over. Evidence of that is the starter relay in the fuse box you’re hearing making strange noises. Should be a clicking sound and a whining noise when it totally gives up.
Given the readings you got when Joe had you put a meter on it, it’s safe to say that battery is done.
Make sure the new battery is a vented unit. OEM battery isn’t that expensive.
I’ve paid $110 CDN on three of them over the years.
Sounds to me like your battery doesn’t have enough cranking amps to kick it over. Evidence of that is the starter relay in the fuse box you’re hearing making strange noises. Should be a clicking sound and a whining noise when it totally gives up.
Given the readings you got when Joe had you put a meter on it, it’s safe to say that battery is done.
Make sure the new battery is a vented unit. OEM battery isn’t that expensive.
I’ve paid $110 CDN on three of them over the years.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
The problem here is that even at 11 volts, the starter relay should have pulled in and tried to engage the starter. (It would then fail, as the battery was fully discharged.) However, his measurements showed no additional voltage drop when he turned the key to start. The load from the starter should have pulled the discharged/bad battery voltage way down. Normally when you try to start with a discharged/bad battery the current drain from the starter quickly pulls the battery voltage down. When it hits 7 volts, the PCM resets and releases the starter relay while it reboots. Less than a second later, it happens all over again. This is why you get the rapid clicking when trying to start with a very low battery. I don't understand why that isn't happening here. (This is assuming that the measurements were accurate.)
Regarding the accuracy of my measurements, I left the leads on the battery posts the entire time. Is this the correct way?
joegr
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No.
I asked for some of the tests to be done at the power port, since that would indicate any drops in the wiring connections between there and the battery itself.
Additional tests to do:
Key off: Black on the engine block, red on the "B" terminal of the starter
While someone has the key turned to start: Black on the engine block, red on the "B" terminal of the starter
While someone has the key turned to start: Black on the engine block, red on the "S" terminal of the starter
I did test the power port behind the center console. The readings were posted along with the battery readings.
Key off: -11.86
Key on: -11.75
Key starting: -11.78
They were negative readings.
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joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Only because you reversed the probes...
Ok. I'll do all the readings again just to make sure