'96 850 Died Suddenly!

Delboy3867 · Post by **Delboy3867** » 06 Feb 2009, 23:31

Okay so this lovely little 1996 850 SE (2.0 ltr) of mine has 135,000 kms, mechanically it runs beautifully but the electrics are starting to play up a little. It's Ex. an Singapore car and with the high heat and humidity there, apparently 2nd hand cars from there often exhibit electric issues later in life which is okay - I enjoy a challenge now and then!

So: symptoms: Tonight, a warm night (around 27 degrees), car been sitting 24 hrs since running perfectly. I go to fire it up and...dead. Dash clock is reading 0.00. all lights on dash lit up - radio aerial goes up quick as normal. I'm tempted to thus believe battery is as good as it has seemed up to now.

FIRST curious thing is that the alarm "beep" is sounding when I turn key to final position. Not having a remote - I've never, ever heard that beep before now.

SECOND curious thing: the "Winter Mode" light on dash is also lit and I've never seen it on before. Mind you, almost every damn light on the dash seems to be lit!

First thing in the morning, I'm going to disconnect battery and see if it resets anything as a first step.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks chaps.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 07 Feb 2009, 05:23

I've had similar things happen when a battery was dying. What happens is the battery has enough power to light all of the dash lights, etc. but not enough to crank the car- it's either that or you have a short in your ignition switch. Try wiggling your key and starting the car again. If that doesn't get it, have your battery checked under load. One other possibility is corrosion of your battery wire(s) or ground. If you disconnect the battery- make sure you have your radio code.

Delboy3867 · Post by **Delboy3867** » 07 Feb 2009, 10:26

It's interesting because I have to enter the radio code on a semi-regular basis. I'm wondering if there isn't a bit of a poor connection or a short somewhere though I'm loathe to pull apart the dash, understandably! I'll try her this morning and maybe see if it starts with a jump. Will report back - and thanks eh?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 07 Feb 2009, 10:53

Double check the battery terminals while you are at it. On a '96 there are secondary wires off of the main battery terminals. Pull those apart and clean and tighten them as well. If you still have problems I would be looking at the electrical portion of the ignition switch next.

...Lee

Delboy3867 · Post by **Delboy3867** » 09 Feb 2009, 16:01

Well, the bulk of the problem is solved: definitely nothing more than a flat battery. It looks like it's getting down there so I've put some jumper leads in the boot - (I like to milk those big, environmentally nasty lumps til they're near death) - and will get a replacement soon.

Interesting about the secondary leads on the battery Lee - never thought to check that out - will get on it. When I bought it, the previous owner hadn't used the car in six months or so, and he had the terminals disconnected. He hadn't tightened the bolts when he reconnected so I thought I had solved the radio code issue when I finally thought to tighten them. Not so. So what do the secondary leads do? Are the main leads for engine electrical only?

Ozark Lee wrote:Double check the battery terminals while you are at it. On a '96 there are secondary wires off of the main battery terminals. Pull those apart and clean and tighten them as well. If you still have problems I would be looking at the electrical portion of the ignition switch next.

...Lee