'96 KA42DE wont start (completely random, now it's dead)

[SLiguykyle]

okay, so i came home from work last week and found that my headlight on the right side was out (HID) i was initially hit with the wtf face, so i turned off the lights, and turned em back on (with the car in my driveway, still running) same thing, so i turned em off and turned the car off. and figured if i start the car back up and turn em on, maybe it'd work and if not it was going to need to be replaced. well, i went to turn the car back on and NOTHING.. just a *click* and that's it... the starter doesn't even attempt to start it, so i figure maybe the battery, so i checked the battery, checked connections, with good results, tried to jump start it in all hope that maybe it was low (since is was at 11.1v). same thing, not even attempting to start. so we put a scanner on it and came up with P0325 (knock sensor code) i figured WTF? how does a knock sensor prevent it from starting??? (if you know for a fact that this could be happening let me know) but i think it's the starter (not the solenoid kuz that works obviously or there would be no *click*) so i am going to take the starter out and take it to auto-zone and have them test it. but what does this have to do with the headlight? where can i get replacement HIDs? do starters really die like that outta nowhere? please, if you have any advice, let me know because my 240 begs me to drive it every time i pull up in my aunt's miata >.<..... this is my first post so far, and i'm still learning about my 240 (i know the basics, but this is kinda mind-boggling me)... help me get my 240 back on the road?

[SLiguykyle]

***BUMP*** anyone? please?

[xweav32]

the hid out could be a sign that you alternator is going out too.

[1KleenS13]

Even though this is my first post, I had the same problem with my car. Mine turned out to be the Starter relay on the inside of the pass side fender. It a big blue relay. Currently I have a paper clip jammed in there to start it ( yeah I'm cheap and lazy). Hope this helps.

[SLiguykyle]

Mine turned out to be the Starter relay on the inside of the pass side fender. It a big blue relay.

er.. i just spent the night looking for it with no luck, but tomorrow i'm going to be taking the starter into autozone for testing... can u be specific as to where/which relay that is?

[oz240red]

I agree with xweav32,

sounds like the alternator might be going bad. Your battery might also be shot because of this. This happened to me a few weeks ago. My alternator went dead and in the process it took the battery along with it.

Your battery should be around 12.8 volts with the car off, or your car will not start. (our engines draw a lot of power to crank).

With the car on it should be around 13.6 volts or the alternator is not doing it's job and your battery getting eaten by the engine.

I would borrow a battery from another car and do this tests first to narrow the problem down. The HID issue might just be a side effect of this. You'll be surprised what weird problems come up with improper charge getting to the ECU and sensors.

By the way, have autozone test your alternator rather than your starter. If you do have to change the alternator, maybe you should upgrade it to the SE. I see you have the base model 240, which has an alternator with an output of 80amps. Since you have HID's, you might want to get the SE one, which cranks out 90amps in order to compensate for the fog lights it brings from factory. That's what I did to mine, since I have the base version also, and I wanted to run foglights.

Let us know how it goes, good luck.

[verSat1l3]

By the way, have autozone test your alternator rather than your starter. If you do have to change the alternator, maybe you should upgrade it to the SE. I see you have the base model 240, which has an alternator with an output of 80amps. Since you have HID's, you might want to get the SE one, which cranks out 90amps in order to compensate for the fog lights it brings from factory. That's what I did to mine, since I have the base version also, and I wanted to run foglights.

Never heard of this, I have a non-se s13 alternator in my s14 se and it works fine, foglamps and all. Something to check into I guess...

[SLiguykyle]

UPDATE!!!! W00 okay, i took the starter to autozone (did it all before i read the new posts just now) and it failed MISERABLY(and when i say miserably, i mean they put it on the machine and it went *click* and didn't even attempy to turn). replaced that and bam, fired right up, no problems whatsoever. as for the HID, something else was keeping it from lighting up. some people said it might have been the ballast, some people said it might be the bulb, as for me i just decided to not deal with all the unecessary crap and go back to the standard bulbs, i just took out the HIDs and bought some slightly blue bulbs (w00t for cheaper bulbs). on the battery aspect... it died down to 6v but that was just because i let it sit in my driveway for a total of 7 days (it's an odyssey 1200, known for dieing when demands are up i guess?) it has restored back up to 11.9 on a 5 hour charge, so hopefully it pulls itself through. i will probably test the alternator if it gives me even the slightest little tiny reason to. but as for now, IM UP AND RUNNING AGAIN W000000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you have anything to add to this adventure, please do

[oz240red]

Glad to hear you 240 is back up.



As far as upgrading the alternator. It's just an idea I got when looking for a replacement for mine. I saw that the SE part number was different than the base version. I had 10 more amps. So I figured "why not", maybe the alternator will work less and last a little longer. Just my .02