Went to lunch today and the car was working fine. Time to go home about 5 hours later, and the car will not start. All electronics (radio, fan, wipers, blinkers, exterior lights, interior lights, etc) work perfectly. But the car will not start, doesn't even attempt to turn over a single time.

Each time I turned the key all the way to start it, there sounded like a clicking noise coming from the fuse panel to the left of the steering column. Could this be fuse related? Starter? Please help and thanks?!

 

Sounds like a starter. Try getting a jump to rule out a weak battery. Check fuses anyway because it's a free thing. You can try tapping the start w/ a hammer to free a possible stuck solenoid.

 

is it an auto or 5spd???

if its an auto, put it in neutral and try to start it...could be a bad neutral inhibitor switch also.

 

starter or dead battery

I know I've drained my battery a couple times
you can drain it to the point where all accessories will still work but it doesn't have enough current to start the car (it takes a very large amount to start)

like Jeff said, try jumping it and then check again later to see if it'll start or not

 

check the engine continue fuse, im about 90% sure it is that!! that is what happened to me, it wouldn't even crank or anything, and i took the starter off and had it checked, and my battery checked, and it turned out to be that fuse. let us know what it was!!

 

if it just clicks once each time you try to start it, most likely it is the starter, do what jeff said and tap the starter with a hammer or something hard...

 

but when it happened to mine it made a clicking sound but didn't crank just like what he said

 

that has been happeneing to me lately ill turn it over and it wont start then i will turn it over again and it will start. its weird what could that be!!

 

yours isn't the engine continue fuse i know that because if that fuse is blown it won't start or crank at all

 

if it is an auto, i know your problem. i also have an auto and this has happened to me numerous times. all you do is push the stick further up, securing it into park. the proplem is you didnt completely set the tranny when you trned off your car. my friend also has an auto max and was just about to show it off to me when this happened. he was just about to freak out until i executed the trick as he was turning it over and he said, "what did you just do?" i felt so noble...

 

thats what it sounds like.. i have that problem too.. all you need to do is shake the shifter around.. or move it to "N" then start her up.....

 

Thanks for all the tips guys! If it happens again, I'll know what else to look for. I just had to write something quick and get the other car so I could get to work.

Solution: I checked the fuses (I think it was eng cont or something and the fuel one) and both were okay. I then pushed in the relay boxes to the right of the fuses and one felt like it was slacked a little bit. Bingo, car started.

I don't know if that was the underlying problem, as it could prolly also be anything said above, but hopefully it won't happen again! Hopefully this helps someone else too.

Oh yeah, mine's an auto. But for future ref, where is the starter located?

 

Mine did the same.....exactly where is the eng. continue fuse? I have a brand new starter and all i hear is the click. So I have to wait for a while...sometimes 5-10mins, sometimes 20-30! and then it starts like nothing was wrong at all. It's sporadic, so I won't say something's actually gone totally bad else it won't start at all. Just click. click. click.........

lophix

 

i guarentee its what DA-MAX said. mine does it all the time, sometimes i have to wiggle my shifter a little bit and then try starting the car again.

 

But mine's a 5-speed!



lophix

 

i don't think yours is the engine continue fuse because if it was it wouldn't ever start at all, just check all your fuses in the fuse box (little pull away cover by your hood pop) that have to do with ignition.

 

lopix, sounds like your battery is weak or u need another starter. check your battery terminal.

 

brand new starter, fresh battery(tested). Brand new battery terminals done at time of battery test.



lophix