Engine does not start
#1
10-22-2016, 06:44 AM
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Engine does not start
#2
10-22-2016, 07:27 AM
Your condition is called No Crank No Start, and diagnosis starts with the battery and/or battery terminal connections. How old is your battery? Search YouTube for that condition and you'll find plenty of videos to help you.
Last edited by swingwing; 10-22-2016 at 07:29 AM. Reason: Added wording.
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10-22-2016, 07:50 AM
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#4
10-22-2016, 03:27 PM
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Adrian, a clicking starter can be caused by 3 things. The most likely is a siezed motor. Odds are, you would know if your engine siezed because it would have either made a horrible sound when it turned itself off or you would have had some warning lights telling you that you either lost oil pressure or you were running the engine way to hot.
So, this leaves the other 2. These are either a starter that is failing and cannot generate enough torque to roll the motor or a low voltage condition (this is a low voltage condition at the starter, not necessarily at the battery).
As a general rule, giving the starter a good thump tends to jar things and will cause the starter to act better for a few starts. But, it will quickly fall back into the broken state. The other check is to connect a multimeter across the battery. You want to have the multimeter only touching the lead of the battery posts, not the battery clamps. When you go to start the car, the battery should jump from 12.6 VDC to around 11.5 VDC. If you don't have 12.6 VDC at the start, then this would be a sign of a low charge on the battery. You will need to recharge the battery before attempting again. If the battery voltage stays up around say 12.0 VDC when the starter is attempting to roll the engine, then this would point back to a bad starter. If the battery drops to under 11.0 VDC, then this would be a sign of a bad battery.
If you are getting around 11.5 VDC when attempting to start the car, you will want to move the lead on the battery positive over to the large terminal on the starter and attempt the check again. If you are seeing more than a 1.0 VDC difference between what you are reading at the starter and from the battery, then this would be a sign of a bad positive battery cable.
The final check is to move the lead from the starter post to any metal piece on the motor and attempt to start the car. If you are getting over 1.0 VDC on this check, then you have a bad negative battery cable.
In short, a bad battery cable is introducing a restriction to the power reaching the starter. If this restriction gets bad enough, it can actually make it so the starter doesn't get enough to roll the engine. If you pay really close attention, you can pick up on the starter loosing power. What you will notice is when the starter is nice and strong, the car will start with very little cranking. But, as the starter starts loosing the ability to roll the engine, it may take a few seconds of cranking to get the engine to finally catch and start.
As for jumping the car and still not having it start, this is not unheard of either. It is more likely to happen if you are using a cheap set of jumper cables (ie, ones using say 10 gauge wire vice the more expensive sets that use say a 6 gauge wire). I liken the wiring to trying to fill a swimming pool. Do you want to fill a pool using a garden hose (10 gauge wire) or with a fire hose (6 gauge wire). In the case of jumping a car, the larger wire offers less restriction to the power making it from one vehicle to the other during the starting process.
So, this leaves the other 2. These are either a starter that is failing and cannot generate enough torque to roll the motor or a low voltage condition (this is a low voltage condition at the starter, not necessarily at the battery).
As a general rule, giving the starter a good thump tends to jar things and will cause the starter to act better for a few starts. But, it will quickly fall back into the broken state. The other check is to connect a multimeter across the battery. You want to have the multimeter only touching the lead of the battery posts, not the battery clamps. When you go to start the car, the battery should jump from 12.6 VDC to around 11.5 VDC. If you don't have 12.6 VDC at the start, then this would be a sign of a low charge on the battery. You will need to recharge the battery before attempting again. If the battery voltage stays up around say 12.0 VDC when the starter is attempting to roll the engine, then this would point back to a bad starter. If the battery drops to under 11.0 VDC, then this would be a sign of a bad battery.
If you are getting around 11.5 VDC when attempting to start the car, you will want to move the lead on the battery positive over to the large terminal on the starter and attempt the check again. If you are seeing more than a 1.0 VDC difference between what you are reading at the starter and from the battery, then this would be a sign of a bad positive battery cable.
The final check is to move the lead from the starter post to any metal piece on the motor and attempt to start the car. If you are getting over 1.0 VDC on this check, then you have a bad negative battery cable.
In short, a bad battery cable is introducing a restriction to the power reaching the starter. If this restriction gets bad enough, it can actually make it so the starter doesn't get enough to roll the engine. If you pay really close attention, you can pick up on the starter loosing power. What you will notice is when the starter is nice and strong, the car will start with very little cranking. But, as the starter starts loosing the ability to roll the engine, it may take a few seconds of cranking to get the engine to finally catch and start.
As for jumping the car and still not having it start, this is not unheard of either. It is more likely to happen if you are using a cheap set of jumper cables (ie, ones using say 10 gauge wire vice the more expensive sets that use say a 6 gauge wire). I liken the wiring to trying to fill a swimming pool. Do you want to fill a pool using a garden hose (10 gauge wire) or with a fire hose (6 gauge wire). In the case of jumping a car, the larger wire offers less restriction to the power making it from one vehicle to the other during the starting process.
#5
10-22-2016, 09:36 PM
You may not think it's the battery but I recommend you remove it and take it to local parts store, Interstate Batteries or Sears Auto Center and have it tested. For your issue step 1 is making dead sure your battery is good.
