One two occasions (as others have been driving my 1990 Sovereign), when the car has been parked, it won't start again. Checking the battery reveals that it fully charged and attempting to jump it, doesn't result in it turning over. However, we discovered that if we push the car forward as little as 6-12 inches, it starts right up.

Is this a omen of a faulty starter? flywheel?

Any advice/thoughts welcome.

 

Greetings,

Not knowing where you live, the first question I have to ask is whether this car has an automatic transmission...I believe there are manual versions overseas, and I know nothing about them.

 

US vehicle (NJ) and yes, an automatic.

 

The only way that makes a bit of sense is that the gear selector was not fully in park, or the gear selector cable not correctly adjusted, and putting it back in park moved the rotary switch into its proper position and enabled the starter circuit to operate. Pushing a dead automatic transmission car, even in gear, rotates nothing forward of the transmission.

 

I'm with JTO on this one. Pushing the car makes no sense. So, I'm going to start with basic questions. What made you decide to push the car forward in the first place? I've just never heard of anyone doing this. Something must have prompted you to think of that. What was it? That may give us a clue as to where to tell you to look.

 

OOOps, I was wrong. Pushing the car also rotates the front wheels and tires, and the front hubs and brake rotors too. Not likely to help the starter much.

 

if there is a dead spot in the starter pushing the car could cause just enough movement to get it off that spot.

 

The flywheel nor the starter will rotate. If it's a manual transmission car in gear, the flywheel will rotate. If the starter drive is stuck engaged with the ring gear in that case, the starter drive might kick out and then work. None of that applies to an automatic, though.

 

Sometimes, the answer is more obvious than the question....

I am wondering now if the act of moving the car had nothing to do with it, but rather, the step of putting the car in neutral and then back in park ensured that the transmission was fully "set" in park. Note that in both instances, someone else, other than I had been driving and had parked the car. I wonder if they simply didn't push the lever up far enough.

 

What an incredible deduction!!! Perhaps you drew some inference from reading the first answer to your question, in post #4?

 

I'm just intrigued as to why no one tried cranking the thing in neutral, before risking the family jewels with a push of 6 -12 inches!