Whats up everyone, What would make a car with a fully charged battery all of a sudden not want to start? I didnt have this issue before but all of a sudden now it sounds like its not getting enough juice to start it when cranked. I checked the battery and the battery was good. I even put it on the trickler and it still sounded like it was dying. I watched my voltage guage as I cranked it and it bottomed out when I tried to start it. I then used the multimeter and tested the voltage to the alt and it dropped to 5 volt when trying to start it. I figured maybe its because I added a tac so I disconnected the tac and still the same. I jumped it with the wifes car and boom it fired right up. I let it run for awhile ( I should of checked the alt then to see if it was reading +12 but forgot) Anyways I let it run and shut it off. Tried to start it again and it still sounded like it was dead. It seems like there is a loss of power somewhere but what would cause it all of a sudden? thanks

-shadowpit-

Sounds like a bad starter.

bad battery or bad connections

Im thinking starter as well. But then again a bad cable with high resistance. Providing your connections are good like mentioned above are good. If you know the battery is good, check your connections on each end of the cables.

if it was the starter though then it shouldnt start with a jump from the wifes car right? or am I wrong? Im rewiring the whole car now and moving the battery to front instead of in the trunk. I pulled the wiring from the batt to the horn relay but instead it went straight to the alt. somewhere admidships the main pos wire had been spliced and branched off to like 4 different parts of the car and was in different sections spliced together like the guy didnt have enough wire and was using scraps lol. A little 1 ft section here with a 3 ft section there oh yeah and a bolt to hold everything together wrapped in electric tape under the carpet with the wire poking through touching metal. I should have everything rewired in a few days so Ill see if that was it. maybe some stuff will actually work after im done. Anyways ill let you all know when I get it finished and if anyone needs a wiring diagram for a 65 malibu let me know.

update: I rewired the whole car and that was the problem. cranked just fine and after a few turns she fired right up over and over again feeling better and smoother than she did before...plus I have dash lights, turn signals, headlights and my interior light works so it was a good thing.... just wanted to let you know incase you were wondering. Probably not but F*%$ it ill tell you anyways lol. I would feel rude if I didnt reply back.

Thanks for the update George. It helps to hear the outcome, someone else may find this thread doing a search and the solution would be important.
To answer another question you asked, I have seen bad starters that would crank better when using a second battery. The amp draw from a bad starter will cause it to crank slowly with one good battery but having more amps available to overcome the draw will make the starter act like it is working properly.

The second battery reminded me of about 9 years ago and I had starting issues in this heat so bad I carried an extra battery in the trunk and had to literally jump the car when the starter would heat soak. I got a ministarter with a heat shield and that fixed my problems, but reading this brought back memories.