Engine stalls and will not start again

[2 Fast 4 U]

Yesterday, while driving backwards up my drive way the engine stalls, I try to restart the engine but the only response I get is like you start a car with a bad battery.
Thinking my car has a bad battery, I start my wifes car and try to jump start my own car, but as soon as I connect the starter cable to both of the batteries, the RPM's of my wifes car drop drastically, so I stop my efforts.
Taking the afternoon off from work today [my wife needs her car tomorrow] I disconnect the positive lead cable of my cars battery and connect my car to my wifes running car, al goes well, I start my car but at first its the same as last night, but after trying a few times it gets better and finally the car starts. After removing the jumper cables and reconnecting the positive battery lead cable, I stop my cars engine and try to start it again and it starts up fine.

What could have caused this problem??

[Nathan Acree]

Hmm,

Could be any number of things, but sounds like a bad connection at the battery cables. The fact that the RPMs dropped on your wifes car means that the alternator on that car was heavily loaded- your battery was very low.

Since you removed the battery cable and then put it back on you might have made a better connection. Take some sandpaper and give your battery cable connections a good polishing (should see nice bright lead color, not dull) and do the same thing to your battery posts.

Keep an eye on that ammeter- it will tell you a lot about your charging system. It should never go into the negative, if it does your battery is loosing charge.

-Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

[2 Fast 4 U]

The battery connections were cleaned, and the poles greased [with special electrical grease] when I put a new battery in about a month or two ago, I even cleaned the wires to the starter and the connections on the starter it self, I have never had any problems with bad connections in the starting circuit, and since the new battery was put in I haven't had any starting problems the car started up better [put in a battery with more Ah, one size bigger]
What puzzles me is that the engine started up nice at work and after 27 km, I had no problems driving home in city traffic and on the free way [I drove in the same way I always drive], it stalls and doesn't start again.

BTW I don't have a Amp meter in the car

[Nathan Acree]

It does sound like your car is not charging the battery properly. You might want to consider putting in an ammeter or even better a volt meter. Its difficult to say why in some cirumstances the battery seems to be charging but in others not.

Why did you recently replace the battery? If your car is having charging problems you can ruin a battery fairly quickly.

-Nathan

[Nathan Acree]

One other thing,

If It is difficult to start again, check the battery voltage with a volt meter. If it is less than 12V your battery is not charging properly. If it is 12-13V then the problem is somewhere else- possibly your starter.

-Nathan Acree
Albuqueruqe New Mexico

[markandson]

Could also be the battery cables themselves, or the ground connections. If your cables are old I would replace them since that is an inexpensive and easy job. Then also check all the major connection points in the electrical system on both the ground and positive sides. Other possibility is that you have a bad cell in the battery, but I doubt it from your description, but you never know.

[2 Fast 4 U]

I don't know what was wrong with the car the other night but it works alright now, rather thinking that the battery or the connections are bad, I am thinking more in the direction of the starter that may have been stuck or something like that.

[ungermm]

You say that it happened the other night, so I would assume that you were driving with you lights on. Your alternator may not be putting out enough amps to charge the battery when the lights are on. Since you don't have an amp gauge, you should get a battery/alternator led tester. They are inexpensive and easy to use.
Jerry

[wrangler]

From your description, I'd have to agree with Jeff (Markandson). It sounds like a bad ground or cell. If you have never replaced or cleaned your ground strap (usually a braided strap from the frame to the engine), I would at least check that since it is often overlooked.

[Dennis Texas]

The battery connections were cleaned, and the poles greased [with special electrical grease] when I put a new battery in about a month or two ago, I even cleaned the wires to the starter and the connections on the starter it self, I have never had any problems with bad connections in the starting circuit, and since the new battery was put in I haven't had any starting problems the car started up better [put in a battery with more Ah, one size bigger]
What puzzles me is that the engine started up nice at work and after 27 km, I had no problems driving home in city traffic and on the free way [I drove in the same way I always drive], it stalls and doesn't start again.

BTW I don't have a Amp meter in the car

since you don't have amp meter in car the next time you have this problem turn on headlights and see if they dim when your starter is not cranking engine over when you try to start the car. If the lights don't dim I would look at the solenoid and possible the starter motor itself. If the lights dim and starter won't turn engine over then I would look at cables and charging system. You say you have a new battery.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Thanks for the pointers guy's, but the things that are not wrong are:

1. Battery, giving power like the first time I put it in my car,
2. Connections of the battery & starter, all those connections were cleaned the same day just before I installed the battery. By cleaned I mean, sanded until the metal was shiny, greased with a special electrical grease [especially made for high power electrical connections like 690 Volt AC and Amp ratings up to 8000 A] and reconnected.

the engine & starter and the altenator are grounded by wire directly to the battery [Engine & starter to battery minimal 35 mm², altenator 6 mm²

I don't know if the lights dimmed because I always turn of all the electrical stuff that is working to save power

The only thing that comes to mind is that the starter got stuck somehow, this can explain the "low charge battery" like starting.
but as I stated before the engine starts up right away, just like before the problem happened

[OpelJim]

Thanks for the pointers guy's, but the things that are not wrong are:

1. Battery, giving power like the first time I put it in my car,
2. Connections of the battery & starter, all those connections were cleaned the same day just before I installed the battery. By cleaned I mean, sanded until the metal was shiny, greased with a special electrical grease [especially made for high power electrical connections like 690 Volt AC and Amp ratings up to 8000 A] and reconnected.

the engine & starter and the altenator are grounded by wire directly to the battery [Engine & starter to battery minimal 35 mm², altenator 6 mm²

I don't know if the lights dimmed because I always turn of all the electrical stuff that is working to save power

The only thing that comes to mind is that the starter got stuck somehow, this can explain the "low charge battery" like starting.
but as I stated before the engine starts up right away, just like before the problem happened

Had this problem too
It might be the ground wire on the distributor plate.
Sometimes the become frayed and they have an intermittent connection
When the plate is turned the connectivity is lost, then when it springs back it the engine runs well
JMTCW

[DewMan]

I had this same problem occure with my 94 Jeep Wrangler, the starter brushes hit a high resistance/burnt armature area and the starter is dead. I can re-engage the key to start the engine three or four times and it will finally start. Had the same problem with my tractor/riding lawn mower....Starter brush dust can cause a high resistance/ short.
Never opened up the Opel starter.
1.See if the brushes need replacing.
2.Check and see if the armeture can be reground.
3.test or have the armeture tested for a open winding.
4. make sure the engine has a good grounding strap.
Good Luck.

DeWayne E.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Saturday I started my car, at least tryd to but it wouldn't budge, thinking it was the starter again, I changed it with a spare one and it started nice. Today I wanted to move the car in the shade but it started like the battery was near its end, but it started. seeing that the rear of the car was still in the sun, I thought move it a bit further, started: nada, the starter slowly crancked the engine, to make a long story short, it was the altenator that gave me all those problems, I put in a spare I had, and now all is wel [for as long as it lasts ]

[Girly_with_style]

i have about the same problem going on right now although ive replaced the battery the alternator the started and the volt regulator each three times and replaced most of the wires (talk about being able to install a part in under 5 mins lol) in my case if i was going up a hill and stalled the car going up i wouldnt be able to start it with the key/push bottons (ingtion died in this case push buttons) it wouldnt even crank over couldnt pop the hood and try and start with a screw driver either. the only way i found that i could re start the car was to get it rolling and pop the clutch any one have any clues on this one ( srry for thread stealing )