New Cobra Owner with issues
 

I purchased a Cobra just a few weeks ago, the car was delivered and everything was going great. I had taken it out a handful of times with no issues.

I went out the other evening to take it out for a drive and nothing. The car will not turn over and no voltage or lights. I connected to the trickle charger and let it set all night. The following morning went out to start and it turned over one time, but after that nothing. I tried to jump start the car and still nothing.
Now I have a humming noise coming from the rear passenger side when I turn the key to the second position. The voltage dial is registering about 11 to 12 and brake lights are on when trying to start, but car will still not turn over.

Any ideas? My next step is to have it towed.

Starter solenoid, relay, dead cell in the battery, bad battery connection. Did you take the battery and do a load test? I would start there before anything.

Sounds like battery. The humming sound is probably fuel pump.

I would agree with the above posts. Check the battery first, the fuel pump is probably in the rear on the passenger side and that is what you are hearing. a trickle charger over night will probably not fully charge a dead battery. More than likely the battery was starting to go and the previous owner did not want to replace it. Good luck.

Jim

Most likely the battery has a failed cell and will never charge. Take it out and have a load test, but if it's over three or 4 years old just replace it. Same advice if it is 2x6V in series - replace both.

Replace battery AND install a
Flaming River battery cutoff switch
next to it. This will do two things.
Isolate battery from hidden
parasitic current draw if the car sits
for extended sessions. Also
adds a layer of anti-theft when
the car is left unattended.

I agree with adding the switch. On my first Cobra, I had a very small parasitic draw and it drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was. If I drove the car regularly, it was not an issue, but if it sat for a few weeks, the battery was just about dead. After a year, I figured out it was the electric choke on my carburetor. Probably the only thing I didn't think to check...

Well, I think the electric choke should have been energized from the ign 1 terminal, so with the key off, it should not have been getting any power.



Maybe try and contact somebody here on this site that lives close to you, look at your car, to help you out a little ?

Unfortunately the way the car was wired, it was not on a switched circuit. It was connected to the "always hot" part of the fuse block where the headlights, horns and few other items were connected.

Just try a new battery. Pull one from another vehicle and just connect it up to see if it starts. Don't need to be perfect fit just to test. If another battery works just get a new battery.

Parasites do exist. If you don't put in a full cutoff switch (my Cobra had one, in my case the parasite was the Fuel Injection Controller) then use a battery tender on it while it is parked.

Put a test light across the battery terminals and try to start it. If the light goes out, then the battery is flat. If not then start doing a voltage drop test. Put the test light to the centre of the negative battery post and body, and crank. If the light comes on then you have a open connection. Keep the test probe on the centre of the battery and move the lead to the terminal. When the light goes of you have found the open circuit. Then do the test with the positive. Start with the centre of the post to the terminal and move onto the starter solenoid. Eventually you'll find your break. Every new connection try to crank. If the light goes a little bit dull then it could be a sticking solenoid. Give it a light tap with a hammer. JD

I have seen a few people who have replaced an AMP gauge with a Volt meter and have spliced it it the original wiring. That will kill your battery because of the full time current draw of the volt meter.
Blas

I believe the OP has left the building after his 1 post.

If you are not mechanically inclined you to find a friend that is. The Flaming River battery disconnect switch is a great idea. That is one of the fixes I used. The original builder used the smallest battery he could get away with. He had a master switch on the fire wall incorporated with the Ford starter solenoid, a neat looking arrangement. the switch lever- knob is accessible from inside up under the dash, not reachable when the seat belts were on. I'd be expecting to only be a quick moment and not turn off the master switch. the heated coolant would rise and collect in the top of the engine and radiator , turn on the electric fans and the battery was dead. I went to a larger (OPTIMA) yellow top battery and installed another master switch, in series, (Flaming River ) on the dash in plane sight and accessible from almost any where. Twist the red knob on and bump the knob inward to turn off. The Flaming River master switch has a bypass circuit to keep things like my Mallory HyFire V1 CD box memory. But that is not the main fix you still need to find where the current is bleeding off to.
Testing the battery, disconnect the battery from the car, fully charge it and then let it sit disconnected for a day , reconnect the battery to the car, if the battery is still charged it is not the battery if it isn't still fully charged I'd suspect a bad cell in the battery. Really active batteries discharging an recharging can cause the metal plates in the battery cells to flake and have the metal flakes fall to the bottom of the cell, accumulating shorting out the plates in the battery cell in the battery. Current may be something leaking small amounts of current over a long time or something is on or taking way too much current. If that is happening then you still need to find the current bleed off. It could be a combination of things now all happening together.

More information, how old a replica is it?. This may be why the seller sold it, A car is a system of all kinds of parts that should all be working together. It could be something small that caused all this. Again if you are not mechanically oriented you may need to find some one who is. A good mechanic would sort this out systematically and get it to a point you can operate with out all the drama. Where are you? A lot of people, mechanics included, are sitting home with COVD shut down. I had to reach out to a small garage that was interested in my car and could do or knew people that could what ever my car needed. Small shop, leave the car and they isolate behind closed doors. It's anew world.

Well I bet he didn't drive away....:p

“Break light are on when trying to start” ... so he says. Some seriously odd wiring there. He should pull the battery and have it load tested first. If it’s a Optima red top battery it needs special charging not just a trickle charger overnight. After the battery is out of the problem curve, disconnect the trigger wire to the starter to disable it and figure out the brake lights circuit. Fuel pump humming is good with key in position two.
Blas

Don't you just love it, when someone posts the first time asking for help and then never replies to anything anyone posts back?

Yep it sure makes you want to try to help these folks out. I will refrain from calling them names, because you never know when something bad may have happened to them. Let's hope he was just inconsiderate and is doing well.

Thoughtless & rude.


John
ERA #3010 Slabside 289 SB BRG

Maybe he got it started, went out on a nice drive...testing his luck....and now he's stuck out in the middle of the desert, middle of the night....dingoes/coyotes/bears....howling/growling.... :D

Come in spinner!