HELP!!! Car won't start

[boss23]

Hey guys.. here's another one for you. I did a list of things to my car (listed below) and for some odd reason, I cannot get it to start. I don't even know where to start. So... my car has been sitting in the drive way for a little over a year now.

I had bought some used suspension that my brother was going to put on for me as a birthday present. After breaking off a seized bolt and not having the proper ball joint separator tool, he gave up and I was left to pick up the pieces.

Anyhow, long story short. I just barely got around to getting some time and extra money to get her running again. I did the following things: Bought and replaced standard seats with some m3 sport seats (refinished them of course):



Replaced the single speaker wiring for a double (converting to the 10 speaker set up instead of the 6):



Added some used 17' wheels + new tires (staggered set from e46 330ci sport). Replaced brake lines with stainless braided ones. Replaced old brake calipers with m3 ones (which were rebuilt using pelican parts diy -- caliper rebuilding instructions). New brake pads + cross drilled rotors. Swapped the sway bar for an eibach one plus added the z3 m roaster front subframe complete with control arms. Also, I changed out the steering rack for the z3 m roaster one too. I know they are the same as the ti one's, but after my brothers failed attemp to help me in the first place, the joints were torn on the old one and it was just easier to put the new rack on vs. having just the joints replaced. Added Bilstein sport struts to the front with the stock z3 m roaster springs.




New radiator. I think my car was in a minor fender bender before I acquired her. The radiator that was in the car was not the stock one and fit a little bit funny.. so I went ahead and got a new one so that the fit would be nicer. I filled it up to the halfway mark with 50/50 bmw coolant/distilled water + plus the appropriate amount of Redline's water wetter. I was hoping to bleed the system after getting the car to start.




Cleaned and put in new dextron III power steering fluid into power steering resevoir. (the resevoir had been leaking all over the steering rack and needed to be cleaned up with some new clamps).



Obviously after doing all of this, I wanted to crank the car over to get her going. The dash didn't even illuminate.. no beeping to indicate that the door was open.. and no sounds of it having any sort of power. I automatically thought it was the battery. I charged it for 24 hours tried again with no luck. I was not sure if the battery was toast since it had been sitting for over a year, so I went ahead and bought a new one in case this was the source of the problem. No luck!





After all of this work.. I can't think of anything that would prevent it from starting or getting any sort of power. I checked the fuse box and it seemed like all the fuses were in tact. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

-Erica

[boss23]

Door locks work, hazard lights work.. and headlights work but are very dimm. Here's a little vid clip of what happens when I turn the key:

http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/g...t=MOV00399.mp4

[cooljess76]

Hey Erica, so with the new battery installed, you're not getting any dash lights or power whatsoever? I'd say you have a bad connection somewhere. Either one or both of the battery terminals may need to be scrubbed(not the battery posts, but inside the terminals attached to the cables). If that doesn't work, then it's probably your negative cable where it attaches to the chassis. Sometimes this cable gets corroded and loses electrical contact. You'll need to remove the battery, unbolt the negative cable and give it a good scrub. Also scrub the surface of the chassis where it attaches to.

[familytruckster]

Might be that hacked replacement connector on the positive cable.

[cooljess76]

Ok, just looked at the vid. I think your negative cable needs to be cleaned where it attaches to the chassis. You could try loosening and wiggling the battery terminals, or perhaps even jump starting the car. It's possible the new battery just needs a charge if they didn't do that for you when you bought it. Sometimes they sit on the shelves for a long time and lose their charge.

[boss23]

I will scrub them right now and come back with some results in about half an hour. Thanks.

[boss23]

Scrubbed/ lightly sanded the contacts. Nothing. Any other suggestions? (oh yeah.. forgot to mention that inner dome light works as well)

[boss23]

I tried jumping the car too with the external jumper unit I have. Nothing!!!

[boss23]

As far as the hacked cable.. it worked before. I don't see why it would be any different. I do agree it looks rought.. but that's the way I bought it. I see a new terminal in it's new future.

[boss23]

Here are the picts of the terminals:







They are pretty clean and should not have any conductivity problems.

[cooljess76]

hmm, well like truckster said, now that I see the positive terminal close up, the wire strands going into it do look kinda rusty. You could try spraying a little wd40 on the wires in the hopes that it will seap in between the terminal and the wire strands. This would just be temporary of course. I'd highly suggest trimming off the rusted strands and reattaching the terminal.

So you are getting some power if the dome light, door locks and headlights work. What gets me is that I didn't see any lights on the cluster light up when you turned the key.

[xxxJohnBoyxxx]

Don't know if this will help. On my car there is a 5amp or 7.5amp fuse that when blown I get no dash lights or start. Check all you fuses but look close at the small amp ones for a blown one.

Next would be the system relay is stuck open