Everything dies midcrank - all dash lights out

[snowcat]

Ok, so my car was sitting for about 2 wks. in the winter cold because I made the unfortunate decision to try and change the tps during the winter w/o a heated garage. Yeah, turns out pvc and cold don't mix, so I had to wait for a warm day to cobble the broken pvc tubing together and reinstall.

I have the car back and up for 1 day, for crying out loud, and it dies in mid-friggin'-crank. Everything dies, no dummy lights on dash, nothing.

I figure 'ignition switch', throw a salvaged one in there, and still just about nothing. A little tiny more juice maybe to the dummy lights. Slowly they come back on, but when I try to crank everything dies.

Checked the battery just to be sure and it's got 12.45 v, more than enough to crank. Only thing I got out of it after swapping ignition switches was a buzzing under the hood and slow to come on or no dummy lights.
Fwiw, I know what a dead starter sounds like, and I don't think it's that. I don't even get that far - no cranking or clicking even.

On top of that I get home from work (had to bike in w/today's wind, awesome) and the 1st thing I want to do is hit the boards and I can't, because my system is infected w/"system tool" and I have to fix that before all else.

So what's the consensus? Could it be a relay? Car is a 94 ej22t wagon (turbo).

For the sake of thoroughness right before I let the car sit for 2 wks the abs light started coming on. At first it would go out, but now it just stays on. Don't think it's really part of the problem, just throwing it out there.

Any help would be appreciated, as I'm damn tired or riding a bike in the winter cold!

[subydaddy]

All throw some idea's out

-Have you checked all the fuses? Namley the Ignition fuse.

-Is it a manual or an auto? If manual.... clutch switch?

-Maybe a lose cable connection on the battery.

-Is there any power at all to anything on the car? Windows, horn, headlights, map lights, mirros, etc?

-Maybe a lose ground somewhere in the engine bay, thus the reason for the ABS light (I don't have much faith with this idea though)

Did it run at all after you put in the TPS?

I just changed the contacts in my starter last week and on bad days the starter never made a clicking noise. I'd just turn the key to silence. But I did have dash lights. This seemed to happen on the colder days. I good tapping while someone else cranked got it going every time though.

Are you refurring to the dummy lights as being dash lights?

[mike-tracy]

Just sounds like a bad negative battery connection, or the cable at the starter end. Happens to me every once in a while, usually when it's freezing ass cold or raining heavily and my wife and kid are in the car waiting.

[Apex3]

Check the cranking voltage, not just when there's no load on the battery. Could still be the battery I think.

[Danny-G]

I would say battery, every so often I get about the same thing and its always the battery not having enough voltage to turn the starter. An hour charging on 12v high fixes it though so I would suspect the battery is getting old or the cold killed it.

[snowcat]

subydaddy:

-Have you checked all the fuses? Namley the Ignition fuse.

* checked fuses 1st thing - but not sure which is ignition. Not labeled. I'll check haynes/chilton, etc.

-Is it a manual or an auto? If manual.... clutch switch?

* 4 spd auto trans

-Maybe a lose cable connection on the battery.

* checked connex. on battery side 2nd thing.

-Is there any power at all to anything on the car? Windows, horn, headlights, map lights, mirros, etc?

* pretty sure weak power, door ajar lights on dash though. I'll check the power thing.

-Maybe a lose ground somewhere in the engine bay, thus the reason for the ABS light (I don't have much faith with this idea though)

* Saw posts on looses neg's on chassis side, will check

Did it run at all after you put in the TPS?

* Once I discovered that the tps isn't the source of my horrific mileage drop, but that most likely the pool of antifreeze sitting below the tps on my top of my engine is (as in intake manifold leak) swapped back to the original tps.

I just changed the contacts in my starter last week and on bad days the starter never made a clicking noise. I'd just turn the key to silence. But I did have dash lights. This seemed to happen on the colder days. I good tapping while someone else cranked got it going every time though.

* Pretty sure not a starter thing. Usually a dead spot (bad contacts, etc.) in the starter will make a pretty good solid click. No solid clicks, just a buzzing/clicking from the engine bay if at all, the kind that u get from weak battery, so I guess i'll have to check the battery under load, like apex3 said.

Are you refurring to the dummy lights as being dash lights?

* Dummy lights=dash lights

Will check grounds on chassis and hot on starter Mike. If it's loose starter cable then I can pull it while someone cranks to give it contact and get it to turn over. Really hard to do that trick when u r alone though.

Apex 3 - nope, haven't checked the battery under load, so it's possible. Have to find someone to help me get it home today and then I'll find out. Thankfully it is right up the street from my house.

Thanks guys - I'll post what else I find if still stumped

[subydaddy]

I got to thinking a little more about this durring my night shift. So here is me thinking outloud.

The starter doesn't rely on any sensors to run (unless it's a saftey feature and the car thinks you're in gear)As long as that starter has enough power to spin, it spins. It may just turn the engine over and over if a certain sensor is disconnected but regardless the starter will work.

Therefore the only thing keeping that starter from working is power (or a signal wire). Whilre you were working on the TPS maybe that single black signal wire came lose. Only a power wire and a signal wire go on the starter so I'm guessing it's it's own ground.

So, in conclussion. Either one of the two wires on the starter fell off or came lose or the battery doesn't have enough juice to run it. Or a blown fuse is keeping power from reaching the starter (ignition fuse is under the hood between the battery and strut mount.

P.S. Maybe more the gear selector up and down a few times to make sure the car registered that you're in Park


..... it's been a long night. Hope you get it running though.

[snowcat]

All good suggestions, but panic @ the disco is over for now. Just plain lame battery. I've never had one die so completely before in mid-crank so threw me for a loop.

Guy that jumped me had smart jumper cables which you don't even have to use color-coded wise. Hook 'em up anyway and they work. Seems like a good idea to me now, as most people w/new cars are told not to jump other people's cars because of surge problems. Not only are the good for that reason, but just in case somebody needs a jump from u. No sense in not protecting ur ecu and other components.

His were michelins, nice quality clamps and pretty heavy grade cables. Length seemed decent, but U can always keep a set of regular cables just to increase the length if need be.

Not a plug, so moddy's feel free to edit my post if it breaks board rules. Just seems like a good plan to me in this day and age.

Thanks 4 all the help and happy motoring!!!!!! (Again not a plug!)