Help! Car Won't Start
 

Hey... I'm sure most of the people here on the .org hates reading these help car wont start.... so im going to say sorry first and ask for a bit of advice

I got a DVD player installed today and it car started and I headed for the car wash. At the car wash the car wouldn't start! so some of the employees there helped me push start it. Still isn't turning on. Car will start only if I push start it other than that absolutely nothing. I had the cars battery replaced not to long ago with a optima red top. I also had the starter motor replaced not to long ago. I checked most of the fuses unless i missed one that i don't know about. What could be wrong with my car? When I try to crank it... it doesn't even attempt to crank. No click. i think what i hear everytime i turn the key is the fuel pump delivering fuel to the engine.

any advice will do. please help. thanks.

Still a little vague. Do you have power to accessories? Radio, lights, windows, etc? Did it show any previous signs of trouble? Any at all? Did you wash the car or the employees? Was the engine washed? If so, with high pressure? Be as detailed as you can. You may just stumble on the answer yourself. Hope to help.

disconnect your battery terminals

clean them thoroughly both on the batt and on the car

check your drive/alternator belt tension

take car to advanced or autozone, they can test your alternator and your battery.

most likely your alternator, or a short in your wiring that's draining your battery

one way of testing to see if you have a short is once you get the car running pop the hood and check the voltage just before and after you turn the car off.

the volltage should remain more or less constant, while the car is off, if it drops gradually to zero then you know you have a short somewhere, whereby it's draining your battery as soon as you turn the car off.

If this is happening most likely your DVD wiring, pull the fuse that controls the DVD, and then do your voltage test.

If you do find it's your DVD take it back to the shop, so they can fix it before you end up replacing the battery again.

good luck !!!

i didn't get a high pressur wash or anything like that. i just took it to the car wash and the employees their ran it through the wash. I'm sure its not my alternator either because i had it recently replaced also. sorry for not listing that. so not the starter i think, not the alternator nor battery. what could it possibly be.

Check your voltage at the battery.

could it be that my solenoid is out? would that cause my car not to even crank?

um...i would take it back to the bozo's that put in ur dvd. Sounds like thats an issue. most dvd players if if installed by a professinal wont let u start ur car while the dvd is on. thus u cant drive it while watching.
or it kills ur starter. thus push starting it will start it because ur buy passing that circutit. thats how we installed em anyways.
red tops wont go dead over the period of a car washing..and i dont care if u got a whinch on that puppy. those things go dead and pretty much recharge them selves. thats why they are so good. there is nuthing in ur car that could be draining that battery enough over a matter of a few mins. I have a redtop in my trucks and i could run major lights, stereo and just about anything else i wanted for over a full hour. so unless ur running a washing machine from it. thats not the problem. ur dash lights should be on if ur not getting a charge.

when my friends car would only start when it was pushed it turned out to be his starter...

at this point im assuming its not the starter itself but it is the solenoid.

my friend also had a 97. This is a problem with them all at a certain point just like all 99's have the coil issue. You'd be better off just changing the starter and being done with it. I'm 99.9% sure it's your starter.

try you starter....:redbounce

If the starter, battery and solenoid check out, it might be the ignition wire. The wire is accessed by removing the steering column cover and the lower panel beneath the steering column. The wire costs about $50 at Autozone.

My experience, at least with two 92 240sx's was this:
we installed an alarm on both cars. The install required that the key-ignition wires be spliced into. After a few weeks, the car wouldnt start, but would have power (i.e. radio, lights, etc available but no start). Wouldn't even turn-over. The point is, the mechanic we took the car to, to diagnose, said Nissan likes to work with exact voltages, esp with the ignition. So, by splicing into the ignition wires, the voltages changed up and couldn't supply enough voltage to the starter.

My first guess would be somewhere with the starter, whether it be the connections TO the starter from the battery

Or if some wire that is connected to ignition system was spliced into.