Car Will Not Start.....what's the problem???
 

the car will not start. it cranks ONCE, but then begins clicking. what could be the diagnosis for this? the performance for the car has been gradually going down. all the lights work fine, the horn is fine, it isn't hte battery im sure, i dont think it's the alternator....that's my analysis...what do u guys think is the problem??

this is a followup to this thread..
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=332481

thanks in advance

um.....help?

yo necesito ayuda ahora

i been having the same problem..
its most likely the Starter...

bang on your starter a couple of times and see if it works...

How do you know it is not the battery?

If your car is a 2000 and the battery has never been replaced, it could be that is what you need to do now. 4-5 years life is a bit short for battery life, but not out of the question. (You know that if the battery is not a sealed type, you need to check the electrolyte level every few months and add distilled water as needed. Failure to do this will kill the battery faster, but they all die eventually anyway.)

The starter relay clicking can be caused by internal battery connections working loose, so that the battery can not put out high current. Because the starter motor is a much heavier load than any other electrical device in the car, it is possible for lights/horn/fan/etc to work OK, but not the starter. I had this exact problem on a car years ago. This also means battery replacement. It is possible that banging on the battery casing or the terminals might effect a temporary fix. (Hit it with something relatively soft and broad like a shoe heel - you seriously don't want to crack the casing and have acid leaking out.)

If the alternator is not working then eventually the battery will discharge, probably producing symptoms similar to what you have written. If the alternator is not working you ought to see a warning light when the engine is running.

Another possibility is that you have a badly corroded connection somewhere, at the battery terminals or at the starter motor. Also possible is a damaged cable that heats up so much it limits the current. (This would probably smell.)

Does the car start when you jump it? If so, and the alternator is OK, then it does not look good for your battery. If it does not start with a jump, look for a bad connection at the starter, or damaged cable, or a problem with the starter itself.

If banging on the starter motor seems to work, suspect a loose and/or corroded connection. But it could also be that the starter motor or relay has had it.

Good luck.

^^ thanks for the posts, i will attempt to jump the car and/or tap the starter, hopefully it will work. i will keep you updated

make sure your battery terminals are not gunked up, they may just have too much corrosion on them and need a cleaning

Minus the obvious battery and starter it could also be the chip in the key.

If it's the chip, the car wouldn't crank even once.

It could be the immobilizer. Mine went at around 50k miles. The car would crank but never fire. Eventually it drained the battery.

if it was the immobilizer, doesn't it mean that the security light would remain constant, and not blinking

..cuz mine is blinking

I tried jumpin the car but it did nothin so this means the battery is fine...this time it didnt crank at all but it did click and after takin out the key i heard the starter makin a faint sound...i proceeded 2 remove the air box and bang on the starter but again...it did nothin....so now i'm tryin to take the starter out, i got the two big bolts off including the thick black cable however the thin welded cable is still on there and i dont kno how 2 get it off...i tried to yank the harness off but i cant get it to budge at all...any suggestion?

ttt...........

did u try cleaning the battery terminals?

if your terminals arent clean, jumping wont work... thats what happend to me, i tried to jump iddnt work and then i cleaned the terminals and it started up fine

my terminals are clean, i don't think it's the battery

Hook up a volt meter to the battery and see what kind of voltage it has. Your looking for something around 10.3 volts or higher;something like that. Try to jump start the car again. The car that is giving you a jump, have that car running and yours off. You want all accesories off on your car and just wait a bit, give it time to charge. While your at it hook up the volt meter again and see if the voltage rises. If it doesn't then that would tell me the batterys no good. A while back I had the same problem you did. I took readings and the voltage on my battery was around 12volts I knew the battery was good. The problem was that when I was servicing my battery, even though I tightened the terminals, I recheck the tightness of the cables and the negative terminal on the cable came off. I guess its worn cause I had to really tighten that thing to get it nice and tight. From what you posted, sounds like a battery problem. The guys here posted some good points that you should look into. Well for the most part I guess you did. Sorry if you all ready stated this but have you ever change the battery before? Have you tried getting a battery from one of your other cars in your household and try hooking it up to your car? I hope you get this one figured out and that you get your car up and running again.

You need to have someone with you to bang the starter while you turn the key. Just banging it and then trying to start it won't work. Also honk your horn and if it sounds loud and clear, it's probably not the battery.

Keith

well guys, i appreciate ALL your help.. this is what happened

i took it to a shop that specializes in alternators/starters

they took out the starter, iopened it up, cleaned it, and put it back in.
turned the key, all lights on ok, but the car still wouldn't crank, just clicked like before

they charged my battery up with one of their wheeled chargers from teh shop for like 20 minutes.. turned the key, all lights on ok, but the car again wouldn't crank, just clicked. then they tried to take out my battery all together as a last resort. they put in a new one, and it STARTED.

so it may have been a combo of both teh starter or battery, but definitely most of the problem pointed to the battery.

im kinda perplexed tho how the battery would give all the in-car electronics 100% power but teh starter no powre at all

Not always true because my mom's camry battery acted weird. We took it to sears b/c we had warranty. The radio and junk would work but car wouldn't started. They cleaned the fillament where the battery connects to the car and sprayed this pink fuzz on it. And it started. The contact's were jacked...yet there was SOME power to the car..enough for windows & radio.
eh..cars..go figure. :jeffy: