Car Starting Problem

Turning the key and instead of a roaring engine coming to life you get only a click? Than I’m afraid you’ve got a long day ahead if you. The bad thing is that there are multiple reasons for a car not to start, and troubleshooting all of them can become very frustrating especially if you don’t know what exactly you’re doing. Just about anything you can find under the hood and not only, may keep your car from starting. Yet don’t panic, if you take it slowly, you can get to the bottom of this.

The first step to reviving your car is starting with one crucial element: the battery, and afterwards work your way around the back. If you’re lucky the troubleshooting can be really simple, and get you running in a couple of minutes.

Ok let’s analyze possible electrical problems, and the first step is checking the fuses. Some cars have a fuse linked to the ignition and starting system thus making in the simplest of tests, since a blown fuse can completely shut down the ignition system.

Next step is checking for possible battery corrosion. As time passes, due to the constant use, the battery connections tend to get dirty and, because of the high voltage electric current, that simple dirt can seriously damage the connections by the corrosion effect. If a battery is severely corroded than it severs all links between the battery and the rest of the car. Therefore no spark plug active, no spark so no start. Try using some anti corrosive agent on the battery posts, clean them nicely and give it another try.

If the connections are ok and still no start on key turn, than maybe you’re simply dealing with a dead battery. To verify that the battery is the source of the problem you can simply turn on the lights. If you see a powerful, normal lighting from the headlights than the battery is ok. If the lights are dim or barely coming on, then there’s definitely something wrong with the battery. To be sure, try and get a battery tester. Measure up the battery so you can see the current tension. If you can’t do it yourself, than try jumpstarting the car. If the car starts from the first “jump” then the problem just got a lot simpler. All you need to do is replace the battery and give the battery connections a good rub to ensure good contact.

If you can find nothing wrong with the battery, no dim lights, and no blown fuse, than you need to shift your attention to the ignition switch. A faulty ignition switch will prevent you from starting correctly because of the missing “signal” for the battery to deliver current. Turn the key just half of the usual so that you can only turn on the electric system. If you see no lights whatsoever on your dashboard, no warning lights of any sort, than you’re dealing with a bad ignition start. If the lights go up, then turn all the way to the ignition start position, if still nothing happens than you need to replace the ignition switch.

Corrosion doesn’t stop at the battery connection, it can eat up any electrical component, especially the uncovered ones like the starter. Get a friend to help you with this one since you need to hold a circuit tester on the wire connected to the starter, and he needs to try to turn the key. If you’re getting current yet no spinning, than consider replacing the starter.

Post tags: Tags: car fuses problem, car problem, Car Starting Problem