My '89 Fleetwood has been sitting for about a week and a half and I can't start it. It turned over but didn't run and I killed the battery trying. Anyone have any ideas?

Could you have flooded it? Maybe try spraying a small amount of starting fluid in the carb when you try to start it again.

Could you have flooded it? Maybe try spraying a small amount of starting fluid in the carb when you try to start it again.

Is carb and choke spray the same thing? By contrast after a couple hours on the battery charger my 76 DeVille fired right up.....

Is carb and choke spray the same thing? By contrast after a couple hours on the battery charger my 76 DeVille fired right up.....

No, that is a cleaner. Starter fluid can be found at almost any store.

Make sure you aren't out of gas. Charge up the battery. Pour a little bit of gas down the carb. Take the distributor cap off, and spray it down on the inside with WD40. Put it back together, and start it up.

Be super-careful with starting fluid. It goes *BOOM* in a big way.

Once scared the shit outta my stupid buddy Rick with some once; I was in the junkyard inquiring into a 1968 Buick LeSabre that they just got in (perfectly intact), and they were trying to start it for me, because if it ran I was probably going to buy it. The junkyard sent out their man (Pablo. I shit you not.) with a battery thingy and a spray can of Ether. He pulled the harness and proceeded to hotwire the car. It would turn over but not catch, so he took off the air cleaner and went to work with the starting fluid. I was sitting in the front passenger seat, Rick was standing by the open hood. Pablo was futzing with the wires, trying to start the car. Some of the ether exploded a bit. This scared Rick, who jumped about 5 feet in the air and proceeded to make noises like "Hoop! Eeep! Ooop! Whoop! Hrrrgle! Wortz!" So Pablo, ever the calm soul, is trying to question him. Naturally, Pablo had a Hispanic accent of some sort.
Pablo: "Wha? Fire?"
Rick: "Ooop! Eeep! Argh!"
Pablo: "'s there fire?"
Rick: "Woop! Ack! Ooorgle!"
Pablo: "Fire? Fire, o no fire?!?" (Pablo was getting fed up at this point. I was laughing my ass off.)
Rick: [finally] "Wha? Fire? oh, no, there's no fire."

I ended up giving Pablo like $10 for the same amount of minutes...

Well, since my battery (DieHard Gold) was dead and still under the three year warranty, I lugged it to Sears so they'd check it for free and at least charge it. I'm sure it was fine, I just cranked it to death in 20* weather but I figured they'd charge it for nothing for me. The wait was so long I started complaining and they just told me it was bad without even testing it, so I got a brand new one for free! HA!

Anyway I just installed the new battery but didn't get a real chance to start it up. Will try again tomorrow morning......

If it doesn't start, make sure to check for spark! Before killing the battery trying.

I've suggested this before to a fellow, and it worked, though usually it's only the solution when the weather is cold.

Have someone hold the intake flap at the top of the carb open while you crank it, or stick something in it to hold it open.

On my car that thing shuts really fast when it's cold, so if I fail to start it immediately, it cuts of air intake and the damn thing will never start.

I've suggested this before to a fellow, and it worked, though usually it's only the solution when the weather is cold.

Have someone hold the intake flap at the top of the carb open while you crank it, or stick something in it to hold it open.

On my car that thing shuts really fast when it's cold, so if I fail to start it immediately, it cuts of air intake and the damn thing will never start.

Giovanni, that's the exact problem I had. I posted a big long thread about back in January. Then I had someone hold a toothbrush in the intake and she fired right up. There's something about cold weather starting after some time that makes that think stick.

Yeah, what happens is that once the car starts, it closes the intake to run on high-idle with a more fuel-rich mixture to help heat up the engine faster, but if you crank the car and fail to start, the flap closes anyway, and then it's near impossible to get a good ignition without the intake open.

In fact I do believe I was the one who suggested that genius (if I do say so myself) idea to you, thus saving you much frustration and a hefty towing bill I believe. No gifts necessary, your thanks is enough! (Ha, ha!)

And you know, Dopestar, I also have a Diehard Gold in my car, because when I bought it 3 years ago, it had a Diehard Gold from 1992. If the battery lasted that long, it was worth getting another!

Yeah, what happens is that once the car starts, it closes the intake to run on high-idle with a more fuel-rich mixture to help heat up the engine faster, but if you crank the car and fail to start, the flap closes anyway, and then it's near impossible to get a good ignition without the intake open.

In fact I do believe I was the one who suggested that genius (if I do say so myself) idea to you, thus saving you much frustration and a hefty towing bill I believe. No gifts necessary, your thanks is enough! (Ha, ha!)

And you know, Dopestar, I also have a Diehard Gold in my car, because when I bought it 3 years ago, it had a Diehard Gold from 1992. If the battery lasted that long, it was worth getting another!

That's exactly the problem, the intake was completely shut. My dad had to hold it while I cranked and sure enough, it started. Ran like crap but it eventually fixed. The DieHard was a good battery, I'm not a fan of anything else. I also found out the starter is on its way out. Half the cranks I made there was that Hoover vacuum sound instead......

Yes, the Diehard battery is great. The one the car came with only died because I ran it down too much. The accessory position on my ignition switch won't work (it physically won't turn to it), so i leave the key on when I want to listen to my radio, which I do a lot to kill time in the car. I got an XM satellite radio a couple of years ago and i love it. I've got a lot of accessories in my car, and the diehard handles them very well.

I actually just had to do the intake trick this morning. It was only 40 degrees though. It started fine last night and it was only 20, plus the car had been sitting since monday. Sometimes I'm amazed. Once there's gas in the lines, it typically only takes a very slight bump on the ignition to get it going, sometimes I think it barely turns over once before it roars to life. She's a trusty car, that she is.