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Wow wasting your time and my time was not my objective. I was asking a question not making a statement about the starter. I came to this fourm because I don't know and with the hope I would be pointed in the right direction. You need to do a little investigative work with a few simple tool was a suggestion. My questions are what are they? Thanks Willie
Here's the deal. It's kind of tough to guess what might be wrong - and that's all any of us are doing right now.
In my opinion, the most likely culprit is a bad, corroded, or loose battery connection. If this is the case, it'll probably get worse, and the "no start" will happen more frequently.
The second most likely culprit is a bad starter. A bad starter will usually "click" when you engage it. But that doesn't always happen.
The third most likely culprit is a faulty battery.
Have you cleaned and tightened your battery connections? Have you gone to an auto parts store and had the battery checked?
Thank you so much. I will try all of your diagnostic solutions as you know the problem is intermittent so I will let you you know how I make out and maybe that will help someone in the future, again thanks.
Thank you so much. I will try all of your diagnostic solutions as you know the problem is intermittent so I will let you you know how I make out and maybe that will help someone in the future, again thanks.
Like BlackHemi said, the "intermittent" part is what makes this really tough.
Have you looked at your battery connections? If they have "white fuzz" all over them (most likely on the positive) that might be a good indicator.
Wow wasting your time and my time was not my objective. I was asking a question not making a statement about the starter. I came to this fourm because I don't know and with the hope I would be pointed in the right direction. You need to do a little investigative work with a few simple tool was a suggestion. My questions are what are they? Thanks Willie
I apologize, and after rereading what I had posted, it did come across quite rude. I promise it wasn't meant in the same tone in which it read. Electrical problems can be quite allusive and deceiving, even to skilled professionals at times. I neglected to see the "?" at the end of your question and presumed it was a statement. With no other info, I was curios as to how you came to this conclusion. You'll find that there are more keyboard technicians on this board than truly experienced ones. Some of the crap I see posted as possibilities of certain cause and effect on here irritates the mess out of me. I would be glad to help further, with much more patients, if the need is still there.
Don't beat yourself up, Walt. His three word response didn't fit the English format of a proper question. Funny thing about smart phones. They make people sound stupid at times. The OP did come back and redeem themself with a properly worded response, but we haven't heard of any real troubleshooting techniques being applied. When an electrical problem is intermittent, it is time for some serious troubleshooting skills.
case in point: We bought an 1989 Chevrolet Beretta brand new off the lot. After 2 years of faithful service I noticed the car would blow the fuse for the radio, the overhead light and the power windows. Funny thing was...the power windows were the first thing I noticed. Not the radio, nor the overhead light. I would put a new fuse in, and hey...everything was alright.
Until a few days later when I noticed there was no power window operation again.
Every time I replaced the fuse, it would last for a while.
One day I went to work with all systems normal. Came out from work, got in the car, and noticed no radio. The only thing I had done was get out of the car...and get back in it.
Figured out after several days of trying to make the intermittent become routine that the power wire for the windows was routed across a sharp cut out metal section in the door.
Slamming the door popped the fuse by shorting the power wire to ground.
How does this help the OP?
Simple. You must observe *everything* that coincides with your car not wanting to start.
Does it do it when it is hot? When it's cold? Raining? Dry? ONLY WHEN YOU NEED TO PICK UP THE KIDS?
When it happens, and you can repeat it by trying again_immediately_then leave the key on and short across the selenoid terminals and see if the car starts. That would indicate a bad selenoid. Cheaper and easier to replace than battery or starter or ignition assembly.
I agree that cleaning up the battery connections is probably not a waste of time. Get some of the spray made to protect them and finish up with that. No excuse to go around with "furry" battery terminals, although many people do.
Another place to check is where the ground wire, the big one from the battery, joins the engine block, transmission, or whatever it grounds to. This is a copper to steel connection, subject to galvanic corrosion and to differential thermal expansion (to non-engineers, I'm trying to say it tends to get furry and to work itself loose over time).
Be careful working around the battery, really the best practice if you are going to fool with the wiring is to take the ground wire (strap) off the battery, so as to avoid the chance of any shorts. You can get memory "saver" devices that put a 9V battery to your cig lighter if you want to maintain your radio presets, etc. Be aware that many factory radios require a code to be entered if they ever lose power, so know what you are up against before you break into things.
Thanks, I took your advice and tried the simplest solution first and it worked. As suggested I look at the battery cables and they appeared clean but taking your advice I clean and tighten them and I have not had the problem since. Hopefully that was the problem. Thanks again Willie.
Most starting problems can be solved with a multimeter. First test the batteries to see if they're sending 12V. Then move to the relay. Check the hot side for 12V. Then have a friend turn the key and check the other side of the relay for 12V. If you're not getting 12V with the relay closed, the relay is bad. If the relay is good, move down to the starter. Have your friend turn the key while you're down there (car in neutral and parking brake on!). If you're getting 12V to the starter, then your connections are all good, and your starter is bad.
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