No start after replacing battery and positive cable

[91King]

Hi all. My battery recently broke at the positive connection resulting in both battery and positive cable to be replaced.

Put it all back together today and the car turns over but does not fire. There is fuel but obviously no spark.

The DIC is displaying both the battery symbol and Service Engine Soon lights.

Any thoughts/ideas would be much appreciated before I tear things apart again.

[Patton]

Hmmm,... besides the obvious, checking connections at the coil packs (alittle drastic) and spark plugs, you got me. I would recommend pulling any DTCs you may have and go from there.

What cause the cable/battery to break? Knowing this might help someone to determine a troubleshooting focus for this problem.

[91King]

Evidently the battery had a flaw at the positive connection. The case broke in the area around the connection and when I went to remove the cable it was rusted in the connection and it broke off inside the battery. Thus the fun of pulling the plenum to replace the cable. Thanks for the reply.

[tomtom72]

Hi, I was thinking is it possible that the bad connection at the + terminal on the battery could have starved something in the started circuit of voltage and caused a failure over repeated use?

I don't know if I'm expressing myself correctly...low supply = heat build up, over a long use period the parts that rely on high voltage will be damaged. Kind of like a brown out and the damage they cause???

The only other thing I can think of would be a problem with some of the fusable links in the starter circuit???

Jez I wish I knew more, sorry I don't have an answer.


Tom

[Patton]

Could be freakin anything, I hate electrical problems.

When you removed the plenum did you check the cable connections at the coil packs? It just doesnt make sense though, even if you bumbed them or unplugged a few, it would still fire up, just be really rough....
In other words, I dont have a freakin clue. I wish I could help you out more. Good luck! Keep us updated though,... I'm very curious to find out what ails her. What have you tried trouble shooting wise?

[John Boothby]

The first thing I would do, would be to check fuses. Based on the fact that the battery was defective, and one of the terminals had broken, there is a good possibility that a short has occurred somewhere. Fuses are the weak links in the electrical system. They are designed to protect sensitive circuits from events such as this. It is also possible that a wire has melted somewhere. I have seen this happen when batteries have been shorted out.

Good Luck!

John Boothby
1990 ZR1 Red/Saddle

[91King]

Thanks for the replies guys. I fixed the problem Saturday. It was a loose electrical connector at the back of the engine. Evidently when I put things back together I did not get one of the clips tight enough and it came loose when I moved the plenum back into position. Oh well I had the pleasure of two plenum removals over the holiday. Lots of garage time.

[bobbyhi]

Glad to hear the problem is fixed. What amazes me more is 2 plenum pulls over a long weekend. Very impressive to the novice like me. Congrats!!

[91King]

Thanks Bob. When the Z fired up on Saturday no one was happier than me. Went for a short blast too make sure it ran properly

BTW - I spent a couple of years living in Cottage Grove in the late 80's early 90's. Enjoyed it very much, winter can be much too long though.