Expert: Roland Finston - 11/9/2009

Question
Hi, After just replacing the battery on the 1999 Voyager, the van would not turn over while trying to start it, but The ASD relay makes a clicking noise until it is pulled..  I have swapped relays only to have the same result each time. The brand new battery is fully charged.You can feel the relay buzzing while you pull it out( the only way to make it stop.  The van has been sitting up for a while and the only work that has been done since I started trying to get it back on the road in both front headlight assembly's, new battery, and a windsheild.   when I jump started it before changing battery's sometimes the starter would sometimes not turn over, but the ASD relay wasn't making the noise..  Any thought as to what the problem(s) could be?  
On a side note, I don't believe that the engine was getting any fuel as well when it was turning over..  Thanks a lot in advance..

Answer
Hi Mark,
You are hearing the sound of the voltage applied to the actuation coil of the relay. It should have a constant 13+V supplied by the battery to both pin 85 (activation coil) and pin 30 (supply for circuit it controls (respectively these are the front socket on the outboard side, and the inboard most socket).  The relay is activated by the pcm which grounds pin 86 (the rear socket on the outboard side) via a dark blue/yellow wire to pin 67 of the pcm. I would check the continuity of that wire and also check it for a short to ground after pulling the pcm plug. Either there is not a full battery voltage on pin 85 due to an internal partial short inside the box, of there is not a solid grounding of the dark blue/yellow wire by the pcm when it gives the go ahead to close the relay. Either would cause the clicking. Another possibility is that some other component is dragging down the voltage on the battery even when the igntion switch is off. So verify that the battery is indeed at about 13.6 at shutdown condition.
Roland