1994 Ford Tempo won't start

JENLYNN

MEMBER
1994 FORD TEMPO

Noises problem
1994 Ford Tempo 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

recently i've had to get my car jump started daily. It don't start right away either, it takes a lot of patience to get it to start. It cranks over immediately whiling getting jump started but it won't actuall start for a while. It makes a noise similar to 'foomp' (like if you put your finger in a glass bottle and quickly pulled it out. Foomp). Once when dealing w/this I decided to check all fluid levels and everything was fine but when I checked the water level and actually took off the radiator cap water spewed out as if it had pressure behind it (hadn't been driven for 2 days) but then it started right up but I haven't got that lucky since.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,871 POSTS

Hi jenlynn. Welcome to the forum. The place to start is the need for a jump start every day. Is there a drain on the battery or is the battery not being recharged while driving is the question.

Start by measuring the battery voltage with a cheap digital voltmeter. With the engine not running, it should be near 12.6 volts. If it is around 12.0 volts, it is discharged. If it is closer to 10.5 to 11.0 volts, there is a shorted cell and the battery must be replaced.

If the voltage is near 12.6 volts, measure again when the engine is running. It must be between 13.75 and 14.75 volts. If it stays around 12.0 to 12.6 volts, the charging system is not working. There are some rather easy tests to perform next to identify the cause of the problem.

Caradiodoc