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After me being sick and the weather dropping to -30 for 3 days my 89 bird wont start

Old Feb 25, 2008 | 01:56 PM
  #1  
ChiefLongWood's Avatar
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
Car: 1989 Firebird
Engine: V6
After me being sick and the weather dropping to -30 for 3 days my 89 bird wont start

Ok heres the problem I got sick last week and I let my car sit outside with barely any gas in it. Pretty much everyday the wind chill would go down to about -25 to -30 which is hell to just about any car. Now when I go start it up it acts all wierd and wont turn over and my car just doesnt work like it should. Im going to upload a couple videos of the noise ASAP once I get them taken.

Ive had multiple so called "experts" tell me what was wrong with it. Ive heard my spark plugs are wet, battery is dead, fuel pump is dead, it needs gas (even though yesterday I put a gallon in and it still acts the same) and so on. Any help would be great!!

EDIT: Well im trying my best to describe the noise. When I turn the key at first it will act like its gonna start for about a sec then some huge backfire shoots out and then alls I hear is a fast pace cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick noise from my engine. If I left it sit for a day it does all this stuff over again

GREAT!! Well I recorded the videos and I just figured out that my camera doesnt record sound. I have a video of the dash though as it tries to start up if thats any help.
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Old Feb 25, 2008 | 02:08 PM
  #2  
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From: Casselberry, FLA
Car: 88 V6 'bird/89TBI bird/85 T/A
Engine: 2.8/TBI/TPI
Transmission: V8 T-5/700R4 x2
Axle/Gears: 3.42 open/2.73 open/ 3.27 9 bolt
Re: After me being sick and the weather dropping to -30 for 3 days my 89 bird wont st

Your battery needs help. If you can hook jumper cables up or just put a different battery in to get it started you should be okay.

The long click is because there is not enough power to turn the starter motor but it is clicking the solenoid like mad trying to engage the starter motor.

It's easy to check with a voltmeter hooked to your battery. If the voltage drops below 9.6 while cranking, you need help.
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Old Feb 25, 2008 | 02:29 PM
  #3  
ChiefLongWood's Avatar
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
Car: 1989 Firebird
Engine: V6
Re: After me being sick and the weather dropping to -30 for 3 days my 89 bird wont st

Yea I forgot to add the as I have my key in the car the battery voltage floats around 8 or 9 which I knew was bad
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Old Feb 25, 2008 | 05:58 PM
  #4  
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From: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Car: '83 Z28, '07 Charger SRT8
Engine: 454ci, 6.1 Hemi
Transmission: TH350, A5
Axle/Gears: 2.73 posi, 3.06 posi
Re: After me being sick and the weather dropping to -30 for 3 days my 89 bird wont st

Take out the battery, let it thaw for a few hours, and charge it with a battery charger. Don't just boost it, because A) it will not charge it up enough to bring it back to life B) if the battery is that dead, you'll likely burn out the alternator running it like that, as it will have to work too hard to both run the car and attempt to charge the battery.

Modern cars, especially with EFI, are very power hungry so you can't use the alternator to charge the battery like you could back-in-the-day. Alternator is a battery maintainer, not a battery charger.
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