Probably obvious, but not to an idiot

Hey there, ive been having trouble getting this thing started and im not a genius when it comes to electrical stuff, much less so with cars. I feel likes its obvious but im retarded so any help would be appreciated.

Vehicle is a 78 bronco

>The best i can describe is that when i try to start the car, it will crank for a couple tries, and then the crank slows down to a stop.

>In the process, the battery gets drained so much that it can barely power the dash lights
>I basically have to go charge the battery every time i want to try to start it

>Have replaced (and had tested) the battery
>Replaced the starter
>Replaced the alternator
>Replaced voltage regulator
>Replaced starter relay/solenoid/whatever its actually called
>Replaced and cleaned battery cables and connections

I'm all out of ideas now, and i dont have pictures at the moment.

Ive been awake for a while so if something doesnt make sense ill try to make it make sense

Other urls found in this thread:

shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/autocraft-silver-battery-group-size-26r-575-cca-26r-3/2040174-P?navigationPath=L1*14920|L2*15000#
lmgtfy.com/?q=engine timing
youtu.be/ylKNfkOTF5E?t=4m46s
youtube.com/watch?v=YiOryv6ouHM
youtube.com/watch?v=0iI2ZJRsK18
youtube.com/watch?v=9n9kt24wnO4
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

bump

Why the fuck are you bumping a two minute old thread? Have some patience goddamn

That bump wasnt me, i dont know who did that or why

"crank for a couple of tries" mean several seconds where its cranking just fine, or just a few individual revolutions of the engine before its nearly out of juice?

Uh, the first one i guess? By "crank for a couple tries" i meant tries as in key turns. Its like 10 seconds total spread over a few key turns, slowing down as it goes and stopping eventually.

I forgot to mention that onces it does stop, any further key turns result in buzzing/really fast clicking from the starter relay/solenoid.

What kind of engine, what kind of battery and date of manufacture on the battery?

5.8, 351, I guess. Thats all i really know off the top of my head. Ill have to go out and look at the battery real quick

All i can get from the battery is:
>575 CCA
>cranking amps at 32F 720
>part number 26r-3
>reserve capacity 81
a sticker on the side reads 2/16 which im assuming is the manufacture date

Does it start if you jump it from another vehicle?

If i remember correctly, no. I think the same thing happens. Its been a while since ive tried though so i may be remembering wrong.

does it have fuel?

Yes

Dumb ass question ffs.

OP you might have a bad cell in the battery. Do you have brake clean spray? Charge your battery, and give the brake clean a SMALL SHOT into the intake to try to get it to fire faster. DONT OVER DO IT.

If that gets it running, take it to a parts store and they will load test your battery for free. Even a one year old battery if not charged regularly can shit out. Especially since it saw cold during winter of 2016.

Hell 575 CCA is a tad small for a 5.8. I have a 2000 4.8 chevy 1500 and my battery is around 7-800 CCA off the top of my head.

But regardless either you aren't running the vehicle regularly and the battery is shot, or there is an electrical draw somewhere on your bronco that is killing your battery.

Go get it load tested and buy at least a 700 CCA battery.

Get a photo of it aswell

I had it tested like 3 times at the same store and they said it was fine, unless there are multiple tests they can do and they're only doing one or something?

I don't think i have any brake clean spray.

I'll go get some pictures but i gotta see if i can find my usb first so i can actualy upload em.

Also i did have a draw at first, thats why i replaced the voltage regulator, but that was the only cause as far as i know

Where did you have the battery tested, and how?

575cca is quite low for an engine that big (I run about 1350cca for a 2.5 diesel), and if the battery is slightly broken (dried out cell or something) then you're fucked

From the way you describe it I can't think of anything else than a bad battery

It was tested at advance auto parts, i'm not really sure what they tested it with, some small machine that printed out a paper at the same time it was doing whatever it was that it was doing.

As for the picture, did you mean of the battery or the engine?

so, if you're cranking the engine for ~5-10 seconds with that small of a battery this is expected behavior

>Have replaced (and had tested) the battery
>Replaced the starter
>Replaced the alternator
>Replaced voltage regulator
>Replaced starter relay/solenoid/whatever its actually called
>Replaced and cleaned battery cables and connections

it's probably not your electrical system
to REALLY make sure pull one of your spark plugs and have someone else try to start it so you can verify a good spark
then pull a second plug to see if it's wet with gas
remember you need 3 things for an engine to fire, fuel+spark+air
so long as all of those things are happening and happen at the right time your car will at least attempt to start

So do i just go down the line and pull each to test it? Or only one or two will work?

I got some pictures of everything, they may suck but the phone i use as a camera is dead and takes forever to charge

Here is the relay/solenoid

Also battery is corroded a bit but i clean it off all the time so thats not it, apparently i need to put grease on it to make it stop doing that

This one's a mess but maybe it'll be of some help.

Front picture of the relay/solenoid

Listen to what I told you earlier.

Go get a battery with at least 700 CCAs.

WalMart has them for $50-60.

Go.

Now.

Report back as to what the progress is.

just pull one, it will probably look dark but shouldn't be all fucked up like most of these

then just look for gas, with as much as you are trying to start it the cylinder and the end of the plug should be wet with gas
if it isn't then check fuel line/filter/pump

this might solve the issue if the current battery is not powerful enough to sustain a high enough crank speed long enough

I'll go check that now.

Wouldn't it just not turn over if it didn't get gas, as opposed to killing the battery?

Not the gas poster, but no.

Your fuel pump probably isn't getting a lot of juice either as your starter is eating most of what little juice you have available, therefore not making pressure and delivering the correct amount of fuel.

Stop listening to that dipshit and go get a different fucking battery holy fucking shit.

your cranking the engine over and over killed your small battery

I've heard way too many stories about batteries being "tested" fine and still being shit

Buy a brand new battery, as big and as high performing as you can get. The higher CCA and AH the better. This sounds to me like a case of a small battery that is also fucked

You're running a battery that, when new, had 575-ish CCA. A modern, small car is often found with a battery with maybe even a bit over 600cca - and thats for a 2 litre engine or similar. Its a battery that is baaarely sufficient if you live in a very hot place and you drive longer distances... but just barely

Get a new, strong battery and I guarantee you the problem is gone. Does it run alright when it starts?

It seems to run fine, save for a a couple of times when it just shut off as i was moving (i wasnt on the road, so there wasn't any real danger), though i was able to just turn the key back and start it again.

>batteries being "tested" fine and still being shit
those battery tester machines basically just test the voltage under a load
and most of the time it's only ~100 amps for a few seconds

I want to add that you're retarded. He has an almost two year old battery with 575 CCAs on a 5.8 V8. Battery isn't maintained or charged regularly at all, let alone through winter months. Battery dies after seconds of cranking and you want him to check the fuel filter?

You're a fucking moron. Where do you even get this shit? Are you 19? Did you just talk to the guy at VatoZone for 17 minutes and now you feel smart? Fucking shut the fuck up. It's dipshits like you that can't do deductive reasoning to determine a problem that make my life hell when I have to work with your kind.

Not to mention the poor people that bring you their cars at a shop and pay for your 3 days of "diagnostics" because you don't have a dash of mechanical reasoning and knowledge.

Fuck you.

Yeah that's a good damn sign of a bad battery. Sometimes they get fucked and won't take a charge.

I swear to god if you don't have at least a 700 CCA battery in the next 5 posts I'm going to find your fucking Ford and turn it into a pile of ash.

Doesn't it run off the alternator while running and not the battery?

Its already a pile of rust, ash isn't going to hurt it much.

I'd like to note that he actually has the proper battery size for his car, 22F and according to the internet original equipment was 575 CCA

wait, so you can start it and it runs for awhile?

Also, CCA is just for cold weather, isnt it? 720 is the amps for everything above 32 F unless im retarded

No not anymore. It was running for a month or so and then this started up.

The alternator keeps the battery charged while the vehicle is running. The car runs off of the battery.

If the battery is fucked and not taking a charge then it won't work.

Go get a fucking battery.

I'm not talking out of my ass.

Yes that's when you found the electrical drain right?

(Just go get a FUCKING battery you nigger oh my god)

a car with a good alternator will run indefinitely with a dead battery provided you can start it
the only reason it would quit is if the alternator wasn't putting out enough power

>a sticker on the side reads 2/16 which im assuming is the manufacture date
if this is true you can just take it back to advance auto parts and they will give you a new one, that battery has a 2 year warranty
shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/autocraft-silver-battery-group-size-26r-575-cca-26r-3/2040174-P?navigationPath=L1*14920|L2*15000#

Nigger oh mah gawd

Oh mah gawd

if the alternator put out less electricity than what the car required to run you would eventually run the battery flat from just driving the car for too long

Timing too far advanced? Try running vac advance off of manifold vaccum and see if it helps. You'll also have to adjust initial to compensate, but it should idle cooler and smoother.

Please tell me you think that Bronco boy has a bad alternator.

Please. I need to laugh after seeing white from anger at the fuccboi who suggested fuel pump

Yes OP this is the solution as to why your battery dies within seconds of you turning the key and cranking the engine.

No i found and fixed the drain a while ago.

Also i don't have the means to go and get a battery at the moment and nobody is available to take me.

I don't know if you saw the thread title but i am stupid and don't know what any of that means.

No, but too much advance at idle will cause hard cranking and huge power draw as the starter tries to overcome it.

OP, does it crank slowly, or quickly before it dies?
If the starter sounds labored, this could be your issue.

Look it up if you are going to be dealing with a car of this vintage. Carbeureted engines aren't that complicated, and a lot of the concepts cross over with modern engine management as well.

Okay well fair point. Didn't know that. Get off of here because there are nothing but fucking idiots throwing out stupid shit such as When you are available to get a battery do it. Then make a new thread and update us.

Please. Leave this one. You're going to get all screwed up if you keep listening to these fucking idiots.

here's a wiring diagram for a 78 ford bronco

see how the battery is a "dead end"
nothing flows "through" the battery and the battery could be fucking removed from the car while it's running without making a bit a difference to the engine

It's as i said, it cranks normally and slows down over each key turn, eventually stopping because the battery is dead

Timing is a valid reason for the battery to be drained while cranking.
Nowadays people just buy parts left and right, no matter if they can fix the actual problem without buying parts.

I'm not really sure how to look something like that up.

>He can't see where the alternator is tied into the battery positive cable providing a battery charge

Really, kill yourself.

lmgtfy.com/?q=engine timing

OP, either you're sixteen, helpless, or both.

Also that "dead end" is a fucking ground you stupid faggot.

OP these are the kinds of people you are dealing with here.

Leave. Buy a battery. Drive your bronco.

yes, the alternator charges the battery
and how would removing the battery sever a connection between alternator and distributor/accessories?

also, everything on that diagram is grounded

If i wanted to sit there and read a bunch of shit i wasn't familiar with I'd just keep googling and wouldn't have bothered to make a thread about it.

I've been awake for a long ass time so that doesn't help either.

Just want you to know that I'm saving that diagram and taking a screen shot of your post to show my co workers and laugh at tomorrow night.

Do you know what a "B terminal" on an alternator is?

Do you know how anything works?

Will you lose good boy points for being a fucking moron?

No, but by not actually learning what the problem is, you're going to stay ignorant. And next time something simple goes wrong, you will just make another thread about it and still be just as stupid.

What is it with millennials that makes them not want to learn how anything works?

youtu.be/ylKNfkOTF5E?t=4m46s
youtube.com/watch?v=YiOryv6ouHM
youtube.com/watch?v=0iI2ZJRsK18
youtube.com/watch?v=9n9kt24wnO4

here are four random youtube videos I found of people removing batteries from cars while they are still running

To be fair i've been trying to figure this out but all existing threads on this kind of thing are about slightly different issues or contain info that i've already tried and had no success with.

It also doesn't help when people use weird slang terms and abbreviations of things as i'm trying to learn.

Half of this threads' posters are already arguing and insulting each other, let's try not to keep that going.

Then agree to go buy a battery and leave the thread dude.

My plan was to try other things in the absence of a means to get a battery, on the off chance it's something else.

I am a desperate fool and i'd rather not dismiss anything that could be remotely useful.

As of right now i am trying to figure things out about timing and vaccums and initials and such.

Threads aren't the end-all-be-all of information.

Learn what does what on a car, then it will be infinitely easier to figure out what's wrong.
If you learn the terms people abbreviate, you will understand the abbreviations.

We can't diagnose and fix your car for you, kid. Get off of your ass and find out what's actually wrong.

Start with a battery, and if that doesn't fix it, check and clean your connections. If that doesn't work, check the timing. One of those WILL fix your issue.

I have done two of those suggestions, did you read? Obviously I am in the process of figuring this out, no amount of insults will push this along faster.

>we cant diagnose you car

You were literally helping me do just that earlier

I'm not trying to run a flame war here so i may just abandon the thread for now as the battery guy suggested

Thanks all for your help.

if you do go get a new battery
yours is likely still under warranty and should be replaced at no cost

are you going to print out these video's as well?
to take to your fake job? and laugh with your fake friends?
sad!

I'm going to side with the user calling you an idiot. Get on Wikipedia and search for "alternators" and then start reading until you understand.

what witchcraft is this?!

Wow great child. Go ahead and take your battery out, turn your lights and radio on, and drive around. Tell me how long you can drive for before you've smoked your alternator you dipshit.

Is it called a "charging system" or a "when running you don't need The battery at all cause the alternator totally doesn't rectify voltage to the battery to keep it charged so it can supply the voltage necessary to run all of the electronics on a vehicle" system?

>Tell me how long you can drive for before you've smoked your alternator you dipshit.
as long as you have gas?

if anything you are removing load from the alternator by not having to charge it

again, if you draw more electricity than your alternator put out you would constantly be killing batteries
actually it's called a voltage regulator

have a 78 f150 with same engine. i had to run two batteries parallel to keep them from dying. it is a big problem.

just make sure they are the same size. also clean your carb, make sure your timing is correct.