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I recently obtained an RX7 and was told it worked fine but would not start due to the clutch going out while it was sitting some wires near the alternator were chewed by rats too, so after the wires and the clutch were all fixed I went to try to start it it won't turn over. When I connect the battery to it and turn the key I hear a loud buzzing sound coming from the engine bay, somewhere near the alternator, all the error and warning lights up on the dashboard also light up and a shift up light comes on the dash. If I turn the heater on the buzz goes away, but when I go to turn the key nothing turns over at all.

The engine does turn over freely, I tried by hand.

I will be checking for fuses/power tomorrow, and may be able to read an ecu error code if there are any, but I as wondering if anybody knew what could be causing this problem, thank you for any help!

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    what's the battery voltage?
    – SteveRacer
    Jun 11, 2016 at 11:00
  • The battery was dead so I had it connected to a 12v 10amp charger, also tried the jumpstart setting tooon the charger but no luck
    – Iqbal Khan
    Jun 11, 2016 at 18:53
  • What does it do.
    – Zero
    Jun 11, 2016 at 22:42
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    Take the charger off, attempt to start, THEN measure the battery voltage.
    – SteveRacer
    Jun 12, 2016 at 1:12
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    Yes it matters, a dead battery will not start a car unless your "charger" is a professional unit that can source 100-200 amps. Even that is a poor idea, because the battery acts like a capacitive "filter" that blocks some alternating current (AC) residue from the alternator and charger that is bad for sensitive electronics. But the OCV check I described in my answer is the definitive test for the assumed "beyond dead" state of your battery. The reason I said to remove charger and attempt start, is to remove "false charge" from gas bubbles that interfere with an accurate OCV measurement.
    – SteveRacer
    Jun 12, 2016 at 19:05

1 Answer 1

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There may be a lead plate weld broken inside the battery. I would try a new battery, or at least determine if the battery is taking a charge before trying anything else. You can measure the OCV "open circuit voltage" of the battery by connecting a voltmeter between the positive and negative terminals of the battery with the the car completely off. And NO chargers of any type connected now or recently.

Anything below 11 volts warrants a new battery. Really, anything below 12 volts is marginal. My guess is yours will read 0-5 volts. Dead. Cannot be resurrected by any means other than replacement.

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  • Battery was the problem for the buzzing, you were right, now when I turn the key, no buzzing from the engine. Everything electric works there is still a buzzing/long beep coming from the dash, but I think that's a low fluid warning if some type, whenever I go to start the car it still doesn't turn over, just a click from the roof near the visor
    – Iqbal Khan
    Jun 12, 2016 at 20:01
  • Gonna mark this as answered and open another question directed towards the starting issue since the buzzing and everything was related to the battery
    – Iqbal Khan
    Jun 13, 2016 at 0:11

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