car won't start

[BavariaE34]

well I changed the alternator, new battery....doesnt seem to want to turn on.... Even got a booster for it that didnt work but it turned on from a boost from another car yesterday, my battery is new but not made for bmw I was told, the car does make a sound but it turns a bit then stops, is it the cold? The starter...... This is starting to Anoy the hell out of me

[wastedincome]

ANy more detail's ??? Whats the temp there? Are you saying it wont "turn over" at all?? What was the reasoning for replacing the ALT?? Have you been having issue's??

[Christoffer]

It's your wheels...

[Saphiro]

If you have a manual transmission, you could try push starting it, that would tell you if the car is going to run. Otherwise, I'd look into the starter, but it sounds more like you've got battery issues. If it turns a tiny bit, then stops, you probably don't have enough juice. In any case it is a strange problem, and the fact that it's strange makes it common amongst E34's.

[BavariaE34]

the battery isnt a month old.... Its still an auto the lights won't turn on by signals will.... Frig ......and the clicking sound slows down when trying to turn.... :(

its -10C I've been having this problem, my starter is fucked...I'm pretty sure

[wastedincome]

If you have a heat gun or hair dryer try heating up the starter, and try tapping on w/ "small" hammer. sometimes moisture gets in there and can freeze the starter. HTH

[BavariaE34]

I think I'm going to park it for the winter....save cash and overhaul the shit out of it later

[zubbie]

wait....lights won't turn on? sounds like a dead battery my friend. Put a trickle charger on it and wait over night. clicking sound is the starter solenoid. It would seem you have enough juice to set the solenoid but not enough to turn over the engine.

[BavariaE34]

How can a battery die after a month? WTF :( this is pissing me off....its the second battery since November

[Saphiro]

With a clicking sound, I would definitely say battery. However, starters are easy to replace and you can get an aftermarket for around $120. It could be the starter.

Most places will replace a bad battery, especially if it's only a month old, it should still be under warranty.

[BavariaE34]

what would cause power drain from a battery????? Do you guys recommend I get a battery made specifically for the e34 ? Or.....!?!?!?

[zubbie]

lots of things can cause a power drain. partial short in one of the circuits. You can check but connecting a meter between the negative terminal of the battery and the negative wire. (disconnect negative terminal first)

IIRC you should see @ 80 milliamps with the car off and sitting. more than 100 and you have a current drain somewhere. pull relays and fuses until the largest current load disappears. You will then know where the problem is.

[David325e]

What battery did you get? Alot of the guys from state side run the Auto Zone 49DL. Its a shelf battery probably not "made for bmw" either, but I left my lights for about 2 hours the other day with it 20 degrees. Car started right up, battery is about 2 years old.

Does sound like a dead battery. How much have you been running the car? And did you replace the alternator after the battery? <- very important

And I'm guessing by your wheels that you have an M20? Try checking how well your cables are connected, especially that negative lead. If its like mine the coating on it has been worn pretty well and theres not really anything between cold air coming into the bay.

What voltage does your battery say when you put a multimeter on the terminals?

[BavariaE34]

it was an m20 its an m50 now the alternator and the battery are not even 2 months old.

[Ace_of_Spades]

hey man,
i think that its the battery that you're having problems with.
make sure that when you start the car, you have everything turned off..e.g. seat heater, heater, radio, etc
i had trouble starting mine during absolute cold weather last season.

[PropellerOnMyCar]

make sure all your ground wires are tight and making good connections too. nothing like replacing parts only to find out that it was a loose ground that all along.

[David325e]

But did you replace the alternator before you last replaced the battery? A dead alternator can kill a battery in an hour of driving. Especially when its cold as can be

[BavariaE34]

yes the alternator was replaced before the battery that I have now and after buying a new one in November.
I bought a battery charger and I charged the battery over night till my charger light up saying charged (full).
woke up, hooked up the battery....vioala it turned on, drove to work 20-30 min drive, turned it off and decided to turn it back off... What do u know.... The car won't turn, now I'll have to bumb a boost off someone to get home, I'm not happy at all....faaack :(

[zubbie]

yes the alternator was replaced before the battery that I have now and after buying a new one in November.
I bought a battery charger and I charged the battery over night till my charger light up saying charged (full).
woke up, hooked up the battery....vioala it turned on, drove to work 20-30 min drive, turned it off and decided to turn it back off... What do u know.... The car won't turn, now I'll have to bumb a boost off someone to get home, I'm not happy at all....faaack :(

take the battery to any garage and have it load tested. This will put to rest any doubt that you have a bad battery.

[BavariaE34]

why would that happen to 2 batterys in a span of 2 months? I returned the older on in December which I bought in November and
now I have this prob... I bought this one in december
chances of 2 bad batteries? Is that even likely?

[Binjammin]

It's unlikely you have two bad batteries, but it's not impossible. Getting it checked out is not a bad idea. I'd also have a look at your alternator, bring that in with the battery to get tested. The idea of checking out your ground connections is spot on, make sure they're all there, and they're all tight.

[upallnight]

the battery isnt a month old.... Its still an auto the lights won't turn on by signals will.... Frig ......and the clicking sound slows down when trying to turn.... :(

its -10C I've been having this problem, my starter is fucked...I'm pretty sure

I just replaced the battery to my Touring and when I installed the new battery it was a lot bigger than what was in the car before. The PO had a "Gas Station" install an interstate battery, but it was 3/4 the size of the battery that I got from autozone. The engine turn a lot quick and she started Helalujah.

If the engine is not turning fast enough, the bendix will retract and the strarter will spin but not turn the engine. You said that you were able to start it with a boost from another car. Sound like the battery doesn't have enough cold amp to crank the BMUU.

[BavariaE34]

what's a bmuu?

[makaveli2k]

yes the alternator was replaced before the battery that I have now and after buying a new one in November.
I bought a battery charger and I charged the battery over night till my charger light up saying charged (full).
woke up, hooked up the battery....vioala it turned on, drove to work 20-30 min drive, turned it off and decided to turn it back off... What do u know.... The car won't turn, now I'll have to bumb a boost off someone to get home, I'm not happy at all....faaack :(

Sounds dead on like your alternator, no way you can drive 20 to 30 minutes have the alternator going and charging your battery and then have it be pooched within a few minutes of turning off the car.

[BavariaE34]

how do I know how much power the alternator produces or is producing, maybe the alternator thats installed isnt the correct one!

[David325e]

how do I know how much power the alternator produces or is producing, maybe the alternator thats installed isnt the correct one!

with the car running there should be between 13 an 14 volts at the posts of the battery. Take the alternator out and have it bench tested. That way they can identify voltage regulator or the alt itself.

[upallnight]

what's a bmuu?

BM double U

LOL

[zubbie]

Yep you've got something wonky going on there. In simple terms the alternator and its built in voltage regulator senses the device load (radio, lights etc) and the battery voltage and carefully balances the two such that a constant voltage is available.

If the battery is bad the alternator will attempt to compensate and burn itself out in the process. If the alternator is bad it will undercharge and quickly drain your battery thus quickly killing it. (Auto batteries do not survive deep cycling; i.e. heavy draining more that a couple of times)

Thus both units should be tested if either are suspect. You may have a good alternator wired wrong or something else going on. Charge voltage should be between 13.75 and 14.25 volts.

[abakos]

call me crazy but I strapped a yellow-top Optima deep cycle gel battery in my E34 a few years before I got rid of it. It cranked SO much better, and when I was doing tranny work the battery went dead a couple times, but I was able to charge it back up and it was back at 100%.

Tradeoff is that it costs twice as much, but I didn't ever want to have to screw with it.

As far as diagnosing the problem, you might nurse it down to autozone or advance. If they have their battery testing machine they can do diagnostics on the entire charging system. Most people don't realize it, but when I worked at Autozone we could do start/load testing on the battery as well as test the charging system while the car is running.

good luck!