[GGood]

Just like the title says, I tried using a cheap Chinese ELM 327 Bluetooth OBDII reader with the Android Torque app today for the first time and while the car seemed fine at first, after shutting it off and coming back 10 minutes later it... won't... turn... over. Tried resetting the ECU, battery seems to be fine (lights come on, tried jumping it too just in case), swapped starter and horn relay to see if that was it, cluster lights seem to be behaving normally, OBD fuse seems fine... can't figure it out!

Any help/ideas/first-hand knowledge greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[XCNuse]

What... does it do?
Does it try to turn over?

Need more details on what it is actually doing.

 

[GGood]

It doesn't crank at all. Also after I pull the key I get a slight click after a second.

 

[okellyr]

Sound like battery is drained ... Did u leave the bt connected to the port ?


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[GGood]

Nay I didn't. And like I said the lights come on and I tried jumping the car and nothing happened.

 

[okellyr]

I had a similar issue recently and tracked the issue back to the starter positive cable... If u trace it from the starter backwards about midway across the engine it entered a black plastic box and the continues on to the battery ... Inside the box the cables are crimped down together ( completing the connection to positive ) ... The connections in there were not 100% ( corrosion ) I hit the connections with a terminal cleaning solution ( May have user the maf cleaning stuff ) and tried to tightens up the connections but they are super awkward to get to... No problems since then

Don't know I this is ur prob but it sounds similar

Ps like u everything would light up but no crank .. I found the issue in a moment of desperation and wiggled the cables = car started ... Wiggled again car no start ... Wiggled again = car started ... Not being the brightest I kept on testing until I was 110% sure that the cable I was poking was the right one ....


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[GGood]

Thanks I'll give that a shot. It just seems weird that it happened right after using the OBDII. I mean, the car didn't move or anything, which makes me think it might be something electrical like a blown fuse or relay or, worst case scenario, a fried ECU...

 

[GGood]

Also, the headlights aren't dimming at all when I try to turn on the car, which one thing I read said might point to a bad ignition switch?

 

[okellyr]

Never heard of an obdii scanner causing a problem ever ...

I'm with u and think it's a loose connection or fuse .... First place to start though is the starter ...




Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[okellyr]

No dim = no power going to the starter or the starter is dead

Could be the ignition switch or a loose connection ....


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[GGood]

Success! It turns out it was the cable going to the starter. Thanks okellyr! I think it's the smaller one that branches off the main bundle. I had to do everything from above tonight so I didn't get a great view of what I was doing. Funny thing is, I think my mechanic replaced a connector having to do with that about 6 months ago when my car wouldn't start after removing the VTCS butterflies...

It's just weird that something like that would happen when the car wasn't driven at all between when it was first started up today and when it stopped working. And I hadn't been poking around in there or anything either.

 

[okellyr]

Yea ... Glad my pain was helpful hahaha ... It was a sob to diagnose and a serious pia to fix... Glad ur rolling again ....


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[GGood]

It was! hehe

I'll still have to get under my car for a more permanent fix, but I'll wait for a warmer day to do it.

 

[okellyr]

I actually went to Mazda with this and when they saw the after market stuff they just walked away lol ... I wouldn't mind so much but they said all the clothes were wrong and I was popping fuses ... They were not and the fuses were fine !

I had to basically check everything myself ( not a bad thing ) and literally stumbled across the problem hahaha freaking took 2 hours of messing about though


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[GGood]

....2hrs?!? LOL

I spent literally 5 hours that day before I tried what you recommended... LOL!

Still really need to get under there, hopefully this weekend. Since I brought it to the mechanic earlier today (for something else) it's been crapping out again.

 

[GGood]

Wow, finally got around to getting under the car today (warm day) and jeez that a PITA! The S terminal's connection is pretty loose and there's seemingly not too much I can do about it. I wire brushed the terminal and added some dialectic grease to the plug (it seemed like there was already some white-ish grease in there?) then reattached it and zip tied the cable so it wouldn't move quite as much. As far as getting the little black plastic box open... good GOD! It's like they intentionally made it as hard to open as possible!!! Between that and the cabin air filter.... sheesh! I could only get the larger side open (that you have to open first), and of course it's not the side with the terminals! Gah! I finally said screw it and I'm just hoping what I did with the S terminal/plug addresses the issue.

 

[okellyr]

Yea my little black box got completely destroyed by me while trying to open it lol ..... Serious pia but it fixes the issue

 

[HeihachiMishima]

I had a similar issue recently and tracked the issue back to the starter positive cable... If u trace it from the starter backwards about midway across the engine it entered a black plastic box and the continues on to the battery ... Inside the box the cables are crimped down together ( completing the connection to positive ) ... The connections in there were not 100% ( corrosion ) I hit the connections with a terminal cleaning solution ( May have user the maf cleaning stuff ) and tried to tightens up the connections but they are super awkward to get to... No problems since then

Don't know I this is ur prob but it sounds similar

Ps like u everything would light up but no crank .. I found the issue in a moment of desperation and wiggled the cables = car started ... Wiggled again car no start ... Wiggled again = car started ... Not being the brightest I kept on testing until I was 110% sure that the cable I was poking was the right one ....

Thanks so much for this post okellyr, had this exact issue and I managed to start my car by messing with the wires with jack handle, I'll have to get under and fix it more permanently, but this post saved me a huge headache.