Car Dosent Start Help!

[mob]

Hello dudes, I need some quick help please!! I have to get to an appointment in an hour. My car just got out of storage, it was in there for alike 3 months, and while it was it went though 3 batteries, I still think its just cause it was sitting, even though on the last one we unplugged the while it was in there... but anyways for about a week now, my battery is crap, i had to jump start it a few times in the begning and then it was charged and it stayed at about the middle on the gauge. She starts up slow but it starts, i started her up this morning for school, then got in and started her up after school, even though it still started slow. Then i got home, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then went to go get some gas, i only had 7 bucks so i was almost at a half tank. So now i get home i go outside to go to my buddys house, and i turn the key but it dosent move. I looked and the wires are all connected, the interior light turns on, and the door beeps when its open. When i turn the key though it just clicks and dosent even try to turn over. I hooked it up my brothers cobra and tried to jump start it but nothing, the meter read m also in the middle. It dosent even try to start it just clicks... SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!! I need to get to school tomorrow, if i cant fix it in a few minutes ill have my brother drive me to my doctor appointment. THANKS!!

 

[mob]

ahhh i cant find the starter, i think im retarded, i went under the front of my car and looked around the header but couldnt find it i was going to try hitting it with a hammer, if that dosent work ill pick up a new selinoid

 

[5.0 con-vert]

Does it just give you one click and then die? I had a similar thing happen after the winter. I ended up replacing the battery, solenoid, starter, and it still didn't work. ( they all needed it anyway, but beside the point) It turns out the only thing wrong was the connection points. I put new ends on the battery cable running to the solenoid from the battery and I put new ends on the terminal end of the cable. I had to jump it to get it started and charged, but after that never had another problem. corrosion is a killer. Hopefully that is the problem! Good luck.

 

[mob]

THANKS, im gonna go out and try to find the starter see if hitting it works, I really really do not have the time money or skills to be messing around with parts unfortunatly Im a poor highschool student, i have to get to school tomorrow morning, and i really suck at engines. Thanks for the help!! Would it be easier to just buy new cables? instead of changing the ends? Do you think i should change the negative also? I have no idea were the negative goes to from the battery If the car starts by hitting the starter does that mean its going bad? Or its another part that is working right like the selinoid? Oh yea and it just clicks once and dies, the fuel pump or waterever it is that makes that noise still does when you turn the key, if its the starter im just gonna run up to powered by ford in downtown and get a new starter, im going to have to borrow money from my mother cause i just spent the rest of it on gas.

 

[HISSIN50]

another connections thinker. Start at the battery and trace them and clean them up as you find them. You can also use a spare jumper cable as a spare cable to run in parallel with existing cables to help narrow down a bad cable.

Good luck.

 

[5.0 con-vert]

for those that are broke, it is much cheaper to just change the ends as long as there is clean copper available. I had to strip my cable back an inch or so to get good stuff. If you have to hit the starter than it is toast! Brushes going south and not connecting.
Those end pieces are only a buck or two and real easy to replace. the starter is not so fun. Try the easy stuff first instead of blowing all your cash at once. I doubt that its the starter!

 

[NKau]

THANKS, im gonna go out and try to find the starter see if hitting it works, I really really do not have the time money or skills to be messing around with parts unfortunatly Im a poor highschool student, i have to get to school tomorrow morning, and i really suck at engines. Thanks for the help!! Would it be easier to just buy new cables? instead of changing the ends? Do you think i should change the negative also? I have no idea were the negative goes to from the battery If the car starts by hitting the starter does that mean its going bad? Or its another part that is working right like the selinoid? Oh yea and it just clicks once and dies, the fuel pump or waterever it is that makes that noise still does when you turn the key, if its the starter im just gonna run up to powered by ford in downtown and get a new starter, im going to have to borrow money from my mother cause i just spent the rest of it on gas.

Do you lose all power to your stereo/dash when you go to turn the engine over? I had a similar problem that turned out to be a bad ground cable; the one that runs from the negative battery post and grounds on the front of the engine. Could also be the positive cable that runs from the battery to the starter. Try wiggling both cables and see if you can get the car to fire. If you have a voltmeter, it would also help to confirm that you have 12V at the battery currently before doing anything else.

 

[mustangjoe87]

your negative cable goes to the block, if the starter works after hitting it, the silenoid was stuck. check the conection on the short wire from the silenoid(on the starter, not the fender apron) and the starter. i had one go bad there once. you can buy terminal ends for 2 dollars cut your old ones off and clamp the wire in. or solder the wire into the new terminal.

 

[mob]

i have a digital multimeter, where do i put the ends to check?!?! I havent tried hitting it yet, i just got back from the gym and would have to find the starter cause i have no clue were it is. If i replace the terminal ends what do i cut them with?

 

[mob]

Do you lose all power to your stereo/dash when you go to turn the engine over? I had a similar problem that turned out to be a bad ground cable; the one that runs from the negative battery post and grounds on the front of the engine. Could also be the positive cable that runs from the battery to the starter. Try wiggling both cables and see if you can get the car to fire. If you have a voltmeter, it would also help to confirm that you have 12V at the battery currently before doing anything else.

I dont have a radio so i couldnt tell, but the overhead light turns on, and the car beeps when the door is open and the key is in, and i tried wiggling bothcables unplugged and plugged them a few times, still dosent go thanks for the replies guys

 

[jrichker]

i have a digital multimeter, where do i put the ends to check?!?! I havent tried hitting it yet, i just got back from the gym and would have to find the starter cause i have no clue were it is. If i replace the terminal ends what do i cut them with?

Here's a checklist:

Since some of the tests will bypass the safety interlocks, make sure that the car is in neutral and the parking brake is set. Becoming a pancake isn’t part of the repair process…

Check battery, terminal connections, ground, starter relay switch (also known as solenoid) and starter in that order.

A voltmeter is handy if you are familiar with how to use it to find bad connections. Measure the voltage drop across a connection: more than .5 volts across a connection indicates a problem.
See http://www.fluke.com/application_notes/automotive/circuit.asp?AGID=1&SID=103 for help

1.) Will the car start if it is jumped? Then clean battery terminals and check battery.

2.) Check the battery to engine block ground, and the ground behind the engine to the firewall.

3.) Then pull the small push on connector (red wire) off the starter relay (Looks like it is stuck on a screw). Then jump between the screw and the terminal that is connected to the battery. If it starts, the relay is good and your problem is in the rest of the circuit.

4.) Remember to check the ignition switch, neutral safety switch on auto trans and the clutch safety switch on manual trans cars. If they are good, then the relay is bad. See http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d80195963.gif for 88-90 year cars .OR see http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d80195964.gif for 91-93 year cars. See http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/1d/db/3c/0900823d801ddb3c.jsp for 94-95 model cars.

5.) Jump the big terminals on the starter relay next to the battery with a screwdriver - watch out for the sparks! If the engine cranks, the starter and power wiring is good. The starter relay is also known as a starter solenoid.

6.) The starter may be hung, loosen up the bolts that hold it on, and give it a good whack with a big hammer. Tighten up the bolts and try again.

7.) If that doesn't work, use a jumper cable from the positive lead on the battery direct to the starter post where the big wire from the relay connects. If it cranks then, it is the power wire from the relay gone bad. This will be hard to do, since there isn't much room to do it.

8.) Pull the starter and take it to Autozone or Pep Boys and have them test it. Starter fails test, then replace it. If you got this far, the starter is probably bad.

 

[mob]

Thanks, i searched and i saw that posted somewhere else, i have a question, i bought new ends from the cable to the battery, i coudldnt find the other ends to the selinoids plus i didnt have anymore cash on me, I have a question, how the heck a mi suposed to cut the cabels?! razor? I cant find my wire cuters and i dont even know if those will work, thanks, and about the voltmeter, where do i put the ends to? Im a little retarded when it comes to this stuff, well very. thanks

 

[HISSIN50]

If you dont have dykes, etc, then I doubt you have the tools to properly crimp or solder new terminals on. Unless you are comfy doing that kind of thing, new cables are a better bet or next time it does not start, you will wonder if the fix this time is causing issues.

Good luck.

 

[mob]

I put the multimeter to a few things, like some selinoid things i dont know exactly what, and i tried the positive and negative terminals on the battery and they came up as 11.7

 

[mob]

If you dont have dykes, etc, then I doubt you have the tools to properly crimp or solder new terminals on. Unless you are comfy doing that kind of thing, new cables are a better bet or next time it does not start, you will wonder if the fix this time is causing issues.

Good luck.

so buying the ends was a waste of money?! Shiet, im just gonna have to wait till my mom gets home and she can lend me money cause i am flat out broke right now. I think im going to get a new selinoid while im there cause when i turn the key, the selinoid clicks (whitch is what was doing the clicking) I still havent found the starter but havent really gotten under the car and looked for it, my brother left so i only got to check that it was the selinoid clicking, but didnt get to try the hammer and starter ahhhh, do you guys think i can get a selinoid from discount auto parts? or will they have to order it? Im gonna go anyways so i guess ill find out, im also going to call powered by ford and see what parts they have. thanks guys

 

[HISSIN50]

I did not dissect all this, but I will post my two.

11.7 volts is simply UNACCEPTABLE. You did not state how you were jumping the battery before, but you simply might not have enough juice even with a jump. I would charge and or replace the battery. A parts store can load test a charged battery for you (often for free).

Cables might not even be the issue, with battery voltage like that. I would clean cable connections but hold off on replacement (of course, you know better since you are lookin right at the cables). I doubt the solenoid is at fault. If you jump the two big lugs on the solenoid, that effectively by-passes it. With the battery being the way it sounds, I think the solenoid might be fine. A lot of this info I just saw is in JR's post.

Just trying to save you some bucks - proper diagnostics allow that. Good luck.

 

[Funhog]

I am going through the same thing you are. For the past few days I had to crawl under the car and hit the starter. To get to the starter, crawl under your passanger front tire (go in the side of the car not the front) and go about a foot in and a few inches up. It is a cylinder looking thing maybe a foot long. Tap the front of it gently and have a friend rock the car while you tap it. I went to autozone and picked up a starter. I am putting it in in a few hours so I will let you know if that solves the problem.

 

[mob]

thanks guys, idk im not sure if im doing it right with the voltmeter, i mean i dont see how i couldnt, but idk, i just put the ends up to the terminals, not the cables, the red one on the positive, and the black one on the negative, and it just shows up as 11.7 sometiems 11.2 idk though cause i can turn my lights on and like i said the overhead light turns on when i put the key in, and my battery was starting the car 5 minutes before this happened, now NOTHING like dosent even TRY to start over, rpms move to about 50 not even in the 100 area, like bearly moves, dosent try to turn and i just hear the click when i push it and when i let off the key it clicks again, autozone has a solenoid for 10 bucks so im gonna try that, im gonna start there cause batteries are expensive, for me atleast, and powered by ford has a starter kit whitch is a high performance mini starter and solenoid and other stuff but its 160 bucks, id have to pay my mom back alot on that one, so im gonna try the cheap stuff first, and if im gonna change the start im gonna go ahead and get a mini starter for when i get long tubes instead of buying two, thanks guys, now i just gotta wait for my mother to get off work cause im stuck here! lol

 

[mob]

I am going through the same thing you are. For the past few days I had to crawl under the car and hit the starter. To get to the starter, crawl under your passanger front tire (go in the side of the car not the front) and go about a foot in and a few inches up. It is a cylinder looking thing maybe a foot long. Tap the front of it gently and have a friend rock the car while you tap it. I went to autozone and picked up a starter. I am putting it in in a few hours so I will let you know if that solves the problem.

Thanks for the description, im gonna try to find it and make sure this isnt my problem.

 

[mob]

Now that i think of it i was using some engine degresser, i dont quite remember but i tried not to get it on the elctrical stuff, you think some got on the solenoid and ended its beautiful life? Its still clicking like i said when i turn the key

How do i jump the car with a screwdriver and the solenoid?? Ive seen someone do it but idk where to put the screwdriver., im gonna go try to give the starter a few wacks cause im bored, maybe itll do something lol, i dont have anyone to help me start the car at the same time lol