make sure you have a solid ground from the
Battery to the engine--if you don't the wiring to
the engine or the excell cable will
be ground and not a very good one

a bad positive cable can also cause this problem


some batteries aquire enough surface charge
when they sit that gets lost after driving


try touching a screw-driver between battery
connection and start connector on starter--
you can also use a wire from start connector
and battery pos


Bang on the starter with a mallot(rubber or wood) while someone turns the key


good luck

Quote:

I had EXACTLY this problem some years ago in a celica - the car wouldn't start, giving every indication of a flat battery and then out of the blue it would fire up no problems!! An auto-electrician friend told me it was the battery. Being too poor at the time to replace it, he said that while turning the key I should get someone to 'bounce' the suspension near the battery. This worked every time - turns out that a couple of the lead cells in the battery were cracked and would not be producing enough power until they made contact again.

This kept me going for 2 months - until I had saved enough cash for a new battery - It started first time, every time after that!

Quote:

It might be an idea to find out why the car has trouble starting first go. This continuous cranking is no doubt going to flatten the battery, but why doesnt it start first try?

I had exactly the same problem sometimes back. I was almost blaming the starter or switch!

I think the main cause is bad contact due to leaking battery hence dirty terminals.

Another cause could be Hard Starting which drains the battery as you try many, many times to start the car. This happens to me a lot.

I cleaned the battery and terminals thoughly. I then reduced the battery water level: IT WAS TOO HIGH leading to leaking. It improved.

Mikali in your second last post what you describe does sound like a flat battery.

In a previous post you state the same and then mention you and your dad went to clutch start the car and for some reason your dad turned the key one last time and the car did start.

This tells me the battery was not flat at all. A loose battery terminal , cable or earth connection will give the same symptom.

In the end you have gone through and inspected and redone these connections.
I suspect this was the cause.

A battery doesnt go from not being able to start a car then a few seconds later it is charged enough to start the car. The only way this is posible is if inside the battery there is a break between 2 of the cells and and they dont always make contact.

If you still suspect the battery I recommend you full charge the battery overnight and then have the auto electrician load test it. This will show if the battery is past its use by date.

Under normal circumstances, you start the car & this drains some of the charge from the battery. The altenator goes into high output mode & you will get the highest voltage reading. As the battery comes back up to full charge, the voltage output from the altenator drops back as it now need only to provide output to run the ignition, & any other accessories that you have on.

If you turn on the lights, the aircon, the Hi-F etc. then the altenator will increase the output, including the voltage to keep up with it all.

When you turn the engine off, the voltage in the battery will settle back to whatever your battery will hold. Theoreticly, a battery cell actually provides 2.2 volts. Multiply this by six [cells] & you get 13.2 volts, so your fully charged battery should have pretty close to this.

Glad to hear that the pocket rocket is running again.
Chris

Testing with a multimeter i found that after charging (clutched her), the charge continually goes down. It went from 13.22v to 12.76 fast initially then tapering off more slowly. I assumed when a car was turned off whatever the figure was not under charge that the battery would gain power not lose it (a little bit anyway).

Am i wrong in assuming this?

Oh by the way shes starting fine now that i have charged the battery up and sanded the connections on the battery and earth body connection.

Your description is of the same symptoms that you would expect from a flat battery.
What happens when you use another battery, or use jumper leads & a friends car?

The motor turns slowly initially then when it stops turning i hear a distinct clicking sound.

What could this mean?

yep im going to try that. Sounds simple enough hope it doesnt act silly on me again!