Okay, this is becoming frustrating. I moved out to Portland, OR earlier this summer and left my Miata in Michigan. My very cool uncle volunteered to drive the Miata across the country but he got busy and I haven’t seen the car in 4 months. It’s wasn’t a big deal until last week when he planned on making the trip, the damned thing wouldn’t start.
To give a little history on the car, I bought it with a blown engine (’99 thrust bearing issue). I swapped out the engine, drove it for about a month and then garaged it over the winter. Brought it out from storage, drove it for about 3 weeks and it’s been sitting in my Uncle’s driveway ever since…..basically this car has been a huge tease. During this time I had a couple instances where it wouldn’t start. There was power to all of the accessories, but the starter wouldn’t engage. Each time I’d reach down, under the intake manifold, and wiggle the wires on the starter and BAM! It would magically start.
My uncle seems to be getting the same symptoms. All of the accessories work but there’s zero power to the starter. This leads me to believe it has something to do with an aftermarket alarm that the previous owner installed. There is a red LED light that doesn’t appear to be hooked to anything (and it doesn’t seem to light up). Also from what I remember there were some ‘mystery’ wires hanging around that left-knee, inside fuse panel. For all I know it could be one of those systems that you have to hold the power window switch and blink 3 times, while turning the key and singing the national anthem. If that is the case, how can I get it disabled? Or if it’s something else, feel free to chime in.
Was the battery disconnected before storage? I've had cars sit for a while and when I went to start them, the battery had enough juice to do everything but start the damned car. They would act like a bad starter because there wasn't enough power to fully engage the solenoid, so the starter would just click.
If it isn't the battery, then perhaps looking at the solenoid and power lead for the starter. I mean since you mentioned that wiggling the wires for the starter temporarily solved the problem. It could just be a bad connection caused by the installation and/or removal of a starter lockout system.
Miatas are known to have problems with the ignition switch. Try wiggling the key.
I hate alarm systems. They're designed to make cars not work, which is counter to what I spend my life doing.
The battery checks out. It's brand new and I made sure to disconnect it before I left.
I'll have him do some more wiggling of wires...
sell it to me for way cheep
, try to get rid of the alarm. If you still want a alarm system GRM/DIY it.
Volksroddin wrote:
sell it to me for way cheep, try to get rid of the alarm. If you still want a alarm system GRM/DIY it.
If this thing ever gets to my part of the country, I'm NEVER going to sell it.
Worst case scenario, I'm flying back to MI for work so I'll deal with it then. However, the thought has crossed my mind that the whole thing is made-up and my uncle is holding my car hostage.
Where in Michigan? if the GR area I could swing over and look at it
another option: Bump Start it?
Keith wrote:
I hate alarm systems. They're designed to make cars not work, which is counter to what I spend my life doing.
Yep, I don't know why people install them. First of all unless you own a car worth 6-7 digits or one of the most commonly stolen cars in your country, it's not even worth thinking about putting an alarm system in. Then it's worth considering that nobody bats an eye these days when a car alarm goes off, due to a couple decades of car alarms going off for no reason. And finally, you're likely to be locked out of your own car or find your car disabled at some point.
Just about every Japanese car uses a black wire with a yellow tracer for the starter solenoid. Use a test light to check at the starter solenoid for power when the switch is in the start position (usually a two man job). If you have power, the problem is elsewhere. If you don't have power:
Look for that wire under the steering column and follow it under the dash. If you find butt connectors etc that's where the starter disable was spliced in. Splice the black/yellow wire back together and check again.
Since you were able to wiggle the starter harness and start it previously, I'm thinking it's not an alarm system problem, unless the starter disable splice descibed above was done at the starter which is kinda unusual.
Me, I use alarm systems to stop the 'smash and grab' gang bangers. If they see the flashing LED they are generally more likely to go look for easier pickin's. I don't even bother to connect the starter kill, since if someone really wants the car itself an alarm is not going to stop them. Having said that, the ball and chain's year model Accord is the most stolen car in the country.
grtechguy wrote:
Where in Michigan? if the GR area I could swing over and look at it
another option: Bump Start it?
Yeah, I'm from GR but the car is in Monroe. Thanks for the offer though...
Jensenman wrote:
Just about every Japanese car uses a black wire with a yellow tracer for the starter solenoid. Use a test light to check at the starter solenoid for power when the switch is in the start position (usually a two man job). If you have power, the problem is elsewhere. If you don't have power:
Look for that wire under the steering column and follow it under the dash. If you find butt connectors etc that's where the starter disable was spliced in. Splice the black/yellow wire back together and check again.
Since you were able to wiggle the starter harness and start it previously, I'm thinking it's not an alarm system problem, unless the starter disable splice descibed above was done at the starter which is kinda unusual.
Me, I use alarm systems to stop the 'smash and grab' gang bangers. If they see the flashing LED they are generally more likely to go look for easier pickin's. I don't even bother to connect the starter kill, since if someone really wants the car itself an alarm is not going to stop them. Having said that, the ball and chain's year model Accord is the most stolen car in the country.
Yeah, I don't really see the point of an alarm on a Miata. But hey, my friend's 92 Stanza has an alarm, so go figure.
A little update on this story...
My uncle managed to get the car car started (by bashing the starter with a 2x4 and a hammer). He made it to a Walgreens in Spokane, WA (from Monroe, MI). Then the stupid thing wouldn't start no matter what he did.
So I ended up driving 6hrs there with a Uhaul tow dolly, loaded up the car and drove back to Portland (a nice 1hr rest before going to work the next day). The most fascinating thing of the whole trip was how well my 14 yr old Volvo towed the Miata, going up and down some serious hills.
Fast forward to yesterday. I went out, tightened some bolts on the starter, disconnected and reconnected the fuel main relay (I did the old nintendo way of fixing it; blowing), and she fired right up. Now I've been beating the living crap out it because I'm not sure how long the 'fix' is going to last.
