starter relay, car shocking me!

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1970PAValiant

1970PAValiant

master of the break down
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went out tonight and tried to start my car, nothing, no power to the headlights, gauges, nothing. wiggled the starter relay, would click once then no power. I'm thinking it's that but every time I try to start the car the entire body of the car gives me an electrical shock, is that normal?
 
I assume you are trying to do this by jumpering across the starter solenoid or starter relay with something "bare metal" lick a coin, keys, or pliers.

What you are feeling there is known as "inductive kick" and is caused by the inductive force buildup in the coil of the relay or solenoid.

Incidently, 's how your ignition system works, too
 

I would start by cleaning the connections on the relay, especailly the stud where the battery connects to it. If after that and you still have no headlights or power in the car your fusable link or bluk head connectors could be bad. Then there's the ammeter connections. Start with the relay and work into the inside of the car.
 
naw I didn't try to jump anything, just getting out of the car door I'de get shocked, I checked my bulkhead connections and ammeter last week due to my alt dying and they were both good.
 
1970PAValiant said:
naw I didn't try to jump anything, just getting out of the car door I'de get shocked, I checked my bulkhead connections and ammeter last week due to my alt dying and they were both good.
Click to expand...


Do clean the starter relay connections and get back to us. Let us know if you have any power in the car for lights and accessories after cleaning too.

There could also be a ground issue, check the block ground from the battery negative cable as well the ground strap on the back of the engine to the firewall.
 
alrighy, well I always wanted to change the negative cable due to the casing getting old and hard. also gonna get a new one anyway since it's in stock at the local napa for $12
 
If you are getting shocked getting out of the car, it's nothing but static electricity, and has NOOOOOOTTTTTHHHHIIIIINNNGGGG to do with the problem at hand

Clean the battery connections, or maybe the battery is dead
 
I cleaned the battery terminals and volt tested the battery, it has 12.5volts and cleaned up. wondering if I got some water in there from me washing the car
 
Well I got a new starter relay (overnight the battery died) and put it in, charged the battery and got her running. While waiting for the battery to charger I opened the old one up and the metal strip that was in there was broken off and grounding it to the case I'm guessing (since putting the new one on there's no discharge of the battery). weird huh
 
1970PAValiant said:
.................. I opened the old one up and the metal strip that was in there was broken off and grounding it to the case.......................
Click to expand...


Good that you got 'er runnin and good that you learned somethin!!

I'm amazed, though, that if this shorted---and drained the battery---that it didn't burn something up, like cables, fuse link, the battery.......
 
yea I started to look around today after work for anything burned, but found nothing, wires seem ok, no smell of burning, gauges all work. Friggin weird
 
well It's been over a week since I've put the new starter relay in the car, been driven over 500 miles and tonight same thing, no power nuthing, now when I put the key in I get a shock from the car door, AND the steering wheel now. What gives?!?
 
You need to

1 Forget this shock nonsense. It's simply static electricity, and coincidence, in other words you just HAPPENED to get shocked when your car is dead

2 Carry some tools, minimum a couple of test clip leads (cheap at Radio Sh##) a basice multimeter and a 12V test lamp.

3 If you are not familiar with your wiring, get a diagram, print it out, and carry it as well. One good thing to do is draw out the bulkhead connector, and label on the diagram, every connection through it.

As soon as the car goes dead, do some simple troubleshooting. Take your test light and look to see where you are missing power.

If it's "stock" muscle Mopar, you could be losing power at the battery terminals, at one of the molded ring ends on the jumper from the starter to the relay, or even right at the starter on the battery pos. cable.

So FIRST thing to check is

lamp ground on block

lamp probe on battery post, OK?

If ok, move probe to big post of starter relay, OK?

If ok, you may have a flakey fusable line, or bad connection THROUGH the bulkhead, or a poor connection/ melted/ etc problem at the ammeter up under the dash.

Gently (CAREFULLY) feel your hand around up under the ammeter, is it warm/ hot? Smell anything?

Are the battery cables good and tight? Clean? Corrosion?

How's the battery? Batteries DO fail ----I've had them fail "intermitently internally the cell connectors "come and go" ----run and then quit.


Do I understand you changed the relay the first time and fixed it? The description you gave did not add up. I'm wondering if there's "something else" there. Could even be, say, a starter with a "partial short" or intermittent short down in the solenoid, etc.

Also, did you check for a 'battery drain?' That is, you take off one cable, and put the test lamp between the cable end and the battery post, and see if you get a light, WITH ALL LOADS OFF in the car. Don't forget the glovebox, trunklight, lighter, etc.
 
alrighty I'll start testing it all tommorow, last time this happened I felt the ammeter wires and they felt alright, I did get the exhaust system redone this summer and my U joints are starting to shake so maybe the starter wire hit that and melted. I'll go under the car tommorow and start looking
 
ok I had a little time today to search for this problem, Checked the voltage of the battery and it's 12.88v, Saw the negative battery cable to the frame had some of the casing comming off so I got a new one and put that on. stil nothing. going to check some more tommorow
 
alright so I found my problem, I tapped into the cig lighter for an after market CD player power source, took that off and the car started right up. apparently the cig lighter goes straight to the ignition switch before you put it on acc. so if you have anything on that power source it will not work. checked all the systems and everything runs fine 12v to everywhere it needs to be. guess it's time to add some relays and wires for the CD player
 
1970PAValiant said:
.............. I tapped into the cig lighter for an after market CD player power source, took that off and the car started right up................... so if you have anything on that power source it will not work........................
Click to expand...

I don't think you fixed it. You probably have something like a loose/ bad/ corroded connector at the bulkhead, or something broken at the fusebox, or maybe at the ammeter.

Do I understand that you lose ALL power, that is, ignition, headlights, etc?

If so, what I'd do now is turn on say, ignition to accessory, turn on the radio or heater, and lights, and get under the dash and wiggle the HELL out of the wiring. If you don't lose power, go out under the hood and wiggle the battery cables around and near the starter relay, and also near the bulkhead connector.

IF YOU ARE LOSING all power, this should be easy to find. Out in the engine area, you have the battery---could be bad!!!! (intermittent) CLEAN the battery cables.

Could be ground cable---wiggle clean, tighten

Could be hot cable, same as above

Check wiring in area of starter relay--loose, corroded. If it's original cables, those wire ends that are molded into rubber are suspect

Wiggle the wiring ESPECIALLY the big wires that go through the bulkhead connector

Get up under the dash, wiggle around the ammeter wires
 
yes I loose all power, no lights, starting, nadda. What I did was check the voltage when I'de put the key in the ignition at the starter relay (the yellow wire) and had 0 volts. when I took out the radio I got 6 volts there and my main battery cable was making a sizzling noise. after cleaning the terminal and everything I had 12volts there. I'll start checking more wires tommorow just to be sure
 
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