electrical and ignition Car will not start.

[aholderith]

Vehicle was running a few weeks ago. Battery is fully charged. what are the most common problems? Relays? Fuses? They all look good. Even when trying to jump the car directly it will not turn over.

[esty]

check your points, make sure a wire didn't get knocked off the coil....do you have power to the coil...are you getting fuel to the carb ?

Edited December 25, 2014 by esty

[rms_sandiego]

If its not turning over at all, you have a problem either with the ignition switch, the starter relay/solenoid, or the starter itself.

 

Try bypassing the switch and putting 12V power to terminal 50 of the starter (the one with the spade connector).

Edited December 25, 2014 by Rob S

[Pierre]

What year?  Stick or auto? tii or not? Do lights work?  Do you have voltage at the battery?

Symptoms?  Do you get a click when you turn the key?  Try it with the lights on.  Do they dim when the key is in the start position?

[OriginalOwner]

I once had the battery terminals suddenly "gunk up" with some unknown goopy slimey stuff and no electricity flowed.  I simply cleaned the terminals, everything back to normal.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

Edited December 25, 2014 by OriginalOwner

[john02md]

Is it a 1974?  Buckle the seat belt and try to start it. 

[Hans]

If the headlights work, problem may be that starter is not getting full juice. Could be terminals on battery, or connections on big cable to starter and/or ground straps from block to frame. If you try using jumper cable to starter, be very careful. I'd start by cleaning all the connection points.

[Son of Marty]

If it is a 74 your problem is most likely the ignition interlock relay it was a 74 only deal that made you fasten you seat belt before the car would start if the seat was occupied. Most owners figured out pretty quickly that you could just unplug the seat wires and fool the system into thinking no one was in the seat. This worked fine until the relay its self failed the you would come up with a electrical system that did every thing it should except let the starter spin.     

[esty]

will it not crank, meaning does nothing happen when you turn the key....do you only get a click, does the engine turn very slow or does the engine turn normally but the car will not start

[LimeySteve]

Why is it people post up a problem , lots of answers given & questions asked all trying to help & no response from the OP ?  weird .

['76mintgrün'02]

He does indeed have a '74:

Posted by aholderith on 20 December 2014 - 02:10 PM in '02 General Discussion

Hello everyone, I am new to the FAQ having just purchased a '74 Chamonix....

 

As posted above, battery terminals/grounds and seat belt switches seem like the place to start.

 

With Christmas behind us, FAQ traffic should pick back up, I hope... the suspense is killing me.

Edited December 26, 2014 by '76Mintgrun'02

[Buckeye]

Here is link to his original post 76Mintgrun02 referring to;

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/161109-blaupunkt-radio-help/

Do as they said above and also perform this test and report back.

[aholderith]

Thank you for the help, everyone. I cleaned the connections to no avail. I will try the seat belt trick next, and then see if it's a starter issue.

[aholderith]

What year?  Stick or auto? tii or not? Do lights work?  Do you have voltage at the battery?

Symptoms?  Do you get a click when you turn the key?  Try it with the lights on.  Do they dim when the key is in the start position?

74, stick, lights work, voltage at the battery.

just a electronic sounding "click" when the key is turned. headlights dim in the start position.

['76mintgrün'02]

If you have the type of aftermarket battery terminal which has two little bolts and a metal tab that clamps the wire, you might try taking it apart and cleaning the connections.  Those are often problematic... just a thought.