Car won't start???? odd things happening...

[0TransAm0]

well it cranked over really slow and then just started to click. i got a jump from a coworker and it started up and got me home. i parked it in the garage and shut it off... when i got out i locked it horn beeped two times like normal as i walk to get the mail i hear it "clicking" or something really loud and fast coming from under the hood driver side i think. and then the headlights pop up and go down two times i was like WTF!.. lol
so i figure battery is dead,as i never charged it all winter or anything and just started my car and let it run once every two weeks... well i put the charger on it and let it sit for 4 hours it went from 7amps to 1-2 amps i unplug the charger and disconnect it and try to start it and still the starter just clicks.. gauges go nuts loud clicking noise from under the hood again(not starter something different)

i checked the battery cables and they are good and tight.
battery is at least 5 years old as it was on the car when i bought it 5 years ago.

time for a new battery?? or something else? any ideas?

thanks
mike

[wrath]

Probably finally shed a piece of a plate and it has a cell shorted. If you put a voltmeter on it you'll probably find you're about 2.1v down.

[Prince Valiant]

sounds like a battery....

[JC70SS]

hmmm....headlights going up and down with key fob is a bad headlight motor, but it could be from bad battery?

[WickedSix]

battery

[84hurst]

I too would guess a bad battery. When a car has low voltage they can do weird things. Check the voltage (should be around 12.5-12.7 engine off and 13-14 engine running) if lower I would replace it. Prolly a dead cell.

[BAD LS1]

poor pos connection or ground cant be overlooked too...

[0TransAm0]

got a optima red top battery. car fired right up. but the computer or whatever it is still makes noise and the headlights still flip up and down when i lock/unlock the car...
should i toss the charger on it?

anything i have to do different with a optima battery compared to a normal acid filled battery?

[brotherbenn83]

That's fuckin weird. But the Optima is just like any other battery (only more spensive) no special treatment needed.

[brotherbenn83]

Do you have a short from the headlight motor to whichever light flashes when you lock the car? Or an internal fault in the headlamp opening door actuator control module?

[0TransAm0]

i don't think its a problem with the headlight or headlight motor itself.. i checked the grounds i could see from under the hood and they are all good. all the fuses are good. im going to get new POS and NEG terminals that connect to the battery as they were pretty corroded when i took them off the old battery and i think the POS side is loose i don't want to strip it but it doesn't get that tight... hopefully all will be good after that..
it just sucks that we get this nice weather and my shits broke...

[lilws6]

i say if you got anouther battery layign aroudn toss a good one in it i bet its the battery i had mine on the tender all winter so mine was good wen i finally fired it up today

[0TransAm0]

hmmm....headlights going up and down with key fob is a bad headlight motor, but it could be from bad battery?

this! im going to try and flip the gear first. and if that doesn't work buy a brass one...
tested my old battery and that was shot as well. whats going to break next

[0TransAm0]

new battery fixed the not starting issue. and for the headlights popping up and down with the key fob and the driver side making a annoying loud as clicking sound after.
i fixed that by raising the light up manually and removed the arm the is attached to the motor spun the gear 180* put it back together and lowered the light by hand. everything works great.

thanks for the help and tips guys.
i think im going to order a brass gear to replace the one in there its only a matter of time before the rest gets messed up...

[lilws6]

yea brass the way to go. mine haven't had a problem yet cross my fingers!!

[0TransAm0]

well its started messing up again.. i said fuck it and ordered a new motor for the driver side headlight.. also had the brake pad in the driver side front break on me today... i tell ya if it ain't one thing its another.. i hope this is the only problems this year...

[lilws6]

just the driverside was acting up? going up and down? interesting...

[Yooformula]

dont bother with the brass gear. had em on both of my headlights and they DO wear out...in fact grind the fuck down is more like it! checkers auto parts sells the motors fairly cheap and come with a lifetime warranty! the clicking and headlight issue is the gears in the motors. I have taken apart so many of them and its only a matter of time that the epoxy you use to hold the housing together will fail causing issues again. weird thing is that every time a motor fried my battery would follow suit if I didnt fix it soon enough. exact symptoms you have/had.

[GTSLOW]

dont bother with the brass gear. had em on both of my headlights and they DO wear out...in fact grind the fuck down is more like it! checkers auto parts sells the motors fairly cheap and come with a lifetime warranty! the clicking and headlight issue is the gears in the motors. I have taken apart so many of them and its only a matter of time that the epoxy you use to hold the housing together will fail causing issues again.

I had aluminum or steel I think and they never had any issues after replacing them. I replaced one side and literally a week later the other side stripped out. Granted I only had the car for 6months after replacing the gears

[lotsals1]

Body ground possibly, there is a 10mm bolt on the drivers side shock tower right by the
power distribution "thing with plastic red cover" the ground -it should have 2 wires going to it. The other possibility is one that goes to the frame right by the alt.
3rd is pass. side shock tower there is a stud with 2 seperate grounds.
I had this same problem when I first painted my T/A . I cleaned and tightend all the above points it went away.