Car Won't Start - Help? (F150, car engine, idle, engine)

[KarmaPhx]

Friday morning my car took a bit longer to start than normal, and I drove home and thought nothing of it. I got up to get my girl from work, and she wasn't ready to go yet so I parked the car and went inside, and when we went to leave, the car wouldn't start, we just got dash lights.

So saturday morning I went and started working on it, I pulled the starter out because I was almost positive that was the problem, but at AutoZone it passed the test 3 times in a row. We checked the battery, and it had a full charge.

We hooked the starter back up, and what do you know, the car started! We thought maybe there was just a lose connection that we fixed, so we turned the car off and took it off the jacks, and it wouldn't start again.

Now I am hearing a "clicking" sound near the EGR/Intake Manifold on the Passenger side.

The starter is spinning, but it seems it's not starting for some reason.

So now I am stuck, what do I do now?!

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

Friday morning my car took a bit longer to start than normal, and I drove home and thought nothing of it. I got up to get my girl from work, and she wasn't ready to go yet so I parked the car and went inside, and when we went to leave, the car wouldn't start, we just got dash lights.

So saturday morning I went and started working on it, I pulled the starter out because I was almost positive that was the problem, but at AutoZone it passed the test 3 times in a row. We checked the battery, and it had a full charge.

We hooked the starter back up, and what do you know, the car started! We thought maybe there was just a lose connection that we fixed, so we turned the car off and took it off the jacks, and it wouldn't start again.

Now I am hearing a "clicking" sound near the EGR/Intake Manifold on the Passenger side.

The starter is spinning, but it seems it's not starting for some reason.

So now I am stuck, what do I do now?!

Believe it or not, it is more than likely your battery cables. Take both of them off, clean them, and tighten them down. Make sure all the corrosion on the terminals are gone. I went through a nightmare before on this, paying a shop to replace the starter and all, and this is what caused it.

Hope this helps

[KarmaPhx]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

Believe it or not, it is more than likely your battery cables. Take both of them off, clean them, and tighten them down. Make sure all the corrosion on the terminals are gone. I went through a nightmare before on this, paying a shop to replace the starter and all, and this is what caused it.

Hope this helps

We are thinking the same thing, since the car started when we hooked the battery back up and put the starter in.

[AlfredB1979]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

So now I am stuck, what do I do now?!

Good question.

Vehicle year, make, and model, please...and anything else relevant that you feel like lobbing in.

There is a difference between my first car (69 VW Beetle) not starting and my 2003 F150 not starting.

The former had a cable to the starter that snapped off one night after I started it up to head home. Found out the hard way the next day.

If my F150 decides not to start, which it has not so far, I'd have to investigate the PATS system.

See how this works? Help us help you.

Your turn.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

Friday morning my car took a bit longer to start than normal, and I drove home and thought nothing of it. I got up to get my girl from work, and she wasn't ready to go yet so I parked the car and went inside, and when we went to leave, the car wouldn't start, we just got dash lights.

So saturday morning I went and started working on it, I pulled the starter out because I was almost positive that was the problem, but at AutoZone it passed the test 3 times in a row. We checked the battery, and it had a full charge.

We hooked the starter back up, and what do you know, the car started! We thought maybe there was just a lose connection that we fixed, so we turned the car off and took it off the jacks, and it wouldn't start again.

Now I am hearing a "clicking" sound near the EGR/Intake Manifold on the Passenger side.

The starter is spinning, but it seems it's not starting for some reason.

So now I am stuck, what do I do now?!

Are you sure the starter is "spinning?" Is that evidenced by the fact that the car engine is turning over and not starting?

If not, and you hear a "click" when you engage the starter, you're probably looking at a faulty starter solenoid. With the limited information we have, that sounds most likely.

[KarmaPhx]

The vehicle is a 1999 Nissan Sentra, I copied the post from a nissanforum which has my vehcile info in the signature, forgot to add that part in.

I am going to try the 'hit the starter' trick first.

[HowardRoarke]

Could be a starter relay (if that applies) or most likely loose wires at the starter and/or the relay. Putting the car back on the ground could have jarred something loose.

The clicking noise could be anything which turns on when you turn the key to start and run, like the idle air control motor, etc.

[KarmaPhx]

True, I don't normally here these things over the sound of the motor, so that would make sense.

The battery cables look alright, but one of the connections has some exposed wire, woudl that cause an issue?

[M3 Mitch]

Check the end of the ground wire opposite to the battery, this connection occasionally gets loose and/or corroded, if it's good and tight take it apart, clean both the wire and the block where it attaches, and re-assemble.

You can get a gadget that goes into your cigarette lighter plug to use a 9v battery to keep your radio presets, etc. from going away when you are messing with the battery, although you either alredy knew that or you lost them when you took the starter out, most probably.

[KarmaPhx]

Turned out to be a bad solenoid on the starter, we replaced it yesteray. Car runs great and starts instantly, but my service engine light just came on tonight, could be a unrelated issue.