First time on the forum and I'm stoked at all of the information available. 5 days ago the car began to run hot...would blow cold air with the heat on and the temp would almost shoot up...then the heat would start working and the temp would drop. Managed to get it to a local mechanic just as coolant spewed everywhere. He took a look at it and said the (if my memory is correct) water pump bypass hose needed to be replaced. Picked up the car last night and it ran fine. Went to start it this morning and it was dead. No lights, radio, car wouldn't even turn etc. The battery was about 4-5 years old so I thought it had finally died on me. Replaced it tonight and got the car to start once for about 3 seconds. It immediately died and now when I turn the key I get clicking.
Any ideas? I'm thinking it may be bad cables..or bad terminal connection. I plan on checking that out in the morning. I've also read somewhere (can't find it now) that the idling is affected by the computer and when a battery dies you are supposed to turn the key to the "on" position and pump the gas a few times. Any advice for me? Thanks for your help.

 

check the terminal connections and all the connections when you replace the battery it resets all the computers so nothing else is necessary, make sure the all connections are clean and you could possibly have a bad starter relay (the clicking) which is one unit with the starter

 

The car wouldn't start before the I got the clicking. First I got nothing at all, then I got it to turn over with a new battery, then it died, then I got nothing again, then I got clicking. I'm thinking it has to be the connection....the previous battery had a good deal of corrosion on it. I'm going to clean the heck out of it and lube them up tomorrow morning and we'll see what happens. Thanks for the tips!

 

Try turning the engine by hand. you could have something locking up the motor. In most case's, i have seen the a/c compressor could the motor to lock up. Which will give you a clicking sound from the starter.

 

Got up bright and early this morning and scrubbed the hell out of the battery cables. Added some lube and tightened them until I got a good snug fit and it did the trick. Started up with no issue and maintained a good idle.
I'd like to do some general maintenance on the vehicle and have read about the cap/plugs. What else would you recommend to keep my car running smoothly? Thanks for the assistance!

 

OK- one other issue I've been having with my car that maybe you can assist me with. For the past two years whenever I'm driving at freeway speeds (65-75) my car will occasionally experience a really heavy vibration. I can get it to stop by letting off the gas and then giving it a heavy foot. It only does it in overdrive...and feels like what happens when driving a stick and you are about to stall out from being in too high a gear. Anyone else experience this?

For someone who is not handy...how difficult is it to replace jacked up door locks and window motors? Is it worth my time?

Thanks!

 

Please start new threads.