car won't start

rwami18

Registered User
My car has been sitting, since I left for Iraq a year n half ago. My dad said he started it up about 2 or 3 months ago. Well I bought a new battery, turned the key, and nothing happened. I keep hearing a errrrrrr sound.LOL. It is very annoying. It just keeps going off. Any idea's would help out a lot. Thanks,
 
can anyone help me out?

Car has a full charge, just want start.

What year is your SC? You do know to press the brake pedal to start, right? :)

Headlights work?

Turn them on and try again - if they dim while trying to start, you've got a bad starter/system.

If not, I'd begin by checking the ignition switch, lower column. Know how to check it?

Also make sure the collision safety switch in the trunk doesn't need to be reset.

Ken
 
Does it crank over, does it click the starter solenoid, is the "eeer" sound coming from the under the hood or from the rear of the car ? Does it make the sound when the ignition is on or just when you try to activate the starter ?

David

PS: Thanks for serving your country in Iraq.
 
...that sound is probably your fuel pump priming...that's what they tend to sound like.Does the car attempt to start..does the engine crank?If so then check for spark and see if the gas is making it to through the fuel rails...if it won't crank then check your electrical connections.What yr is your car? I've noticed that when ever I work aorund my battery the red connection from the mega-fuse to the starter on the inside DS fender behind the battery will come loose and my car won't start till I tighten it.....has your ignition switch been replaced? These tend to go bad over time......just a few thoughts.Good luck and............thanks....welcome home.
z
 
...that sound is probably your fuel pump priming...that's what they tend to sound like.Does the car attempt to start..does the engine crank?If so then check for spark and see if the gas is making it to through the fuel rails...if it won't crank then check your electrical connections.What yr is your car? I've noticed that when ever I work aorund my battery the red connection from the mega-fuse to the starter on the inside DS fender behind the battery will come loose and my car won't start till I tighten it.....has your ignition switch been replaced? These tend to go bad over time......just a few thoughts.Good luck and............thanks....welcome home.
z

..boy,you guys are fast............lol
 
info

The car is a 1993. Automatic. When I turn the key I can hear everything starting up. I hear the solenoid make a sound. The car doesn't even crank, I turn the key and that annoying sound comes on from the front. Also when i turn the key some clicking sound comes from the rear. The headlights don't dim at all. Any idea's would help.
Thanks,
 
Not being there to experience the issues first hand....I'd say you might have a bad starter solenoid or junk starter. If the solenoid was working correctly and the starter was working but the engine didn't want to spin, the headlights would dim. Same if the everything was ok but the battery. Could be wiring from the solenoid to the starter...loose or badly corroded. The best method at this point involves an amp meter to check if and how many are being pulled when you try to start. Have you tried using another car or charger to jump start?

Do you know how to check the solenoid? Mine is near the battery on the left side.

Know how to bypass and jumper the solenoid to test it and the starter? Just remember those big terminals are carrying direct current from the battery and you can get into trouble fast if you mess things up. Be careful.

Clicking sound from the rear? Left rear in the trunk? Could be the collision safety shut off dieing...have someone try to start and duplicate the sound while you listen to it - should be a label on the trunk liner...just pull the liner out far enough to get to it. Look for a unit with a reset button on the top, as I recall.
 
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sounds like a starter issue to me.. if you want i can send you a starter and the silenoid on by the battery for 60$ for BOTH + shipping starter bought 3 months ago as well as silenoid. parting out car. Yours if you need it

the clicking also might be the arc adjusting itself
 
Update

The mechanic told me it is my motor mounts? Doesn't seem like that would do it. I don't think he knows what he is saying.
 
I'd be willing to bet the errrrrr sound you hear is the pump on your teeves brake system. Not sure if the 93 had them but mine likes to make a sound when I turn the key. Also if the car doesn't turn over than I'd start with taking a look at the starter and wires going to it.

Good luck and glad you made it back from Iraq!
 
Ok, there are way too many "errr" interpretations out there. The ABS pump, the clicking from the ARC relays, the fuel pump priming, all of that will start once you turn the key to "On" and stop on their own within a few seconds. (The ABS may take about half a minute if the car has been sitting a long time.) Once that is all finished, the car should be silent (except for the annoying key chime that you may have - mine does :rolleyes:).

Now, if you hear an "errrr" when you turn the key to "Start", and only then, it may be your starter solenoid. If there is a problem with the starting system, the solenoid often makes a very rapid clicking / rapping noise that is sometimes fast enough to sound like an "errrr" noise. It's very obnoxious and abrupt.

On the early model cars, the solenoid is on the inner fender, right behind the battery. (Caution, it's always electrically hot and those are big, low-resistance cables.) On the later cars, the solenoid is mounted to the starter. (Really, the older cars have 2 solenoids or starter relays. There is one on the starter as well. But the system is wired differently than the later cars, and the solenoid on the fender can go bad.)

If it is the fender solenoid (sometimes AKA starter relay), that is a cheap part and is easy to replace. It can be bypassed to test it. But I would advise caution, as KMT said. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.

One way to test the starter itself is to have someone else turn the key while you rap on the starter itself with a big hammer. Again, be careful, especially if it's a 5-speed car.

Good luck!

P.S. - Nice car. I like the paint.
 
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Steve,

My 90 started to do this rapid clicking. Car wont start. Although on one try the starter turned but then it turned to the rapid click. Is this the fender relay going bad?
 
Steve,

My 90 started to do this rapid clicking. Car wont start. Although on one try the starter turned but then it turned to the rapid click. Is this the fender relay going bad?

Before you even THINK about fiddling with the fender relay - have the battery load tested, and make certain there's no corrosion at the battery terminals.

The rapid clicking can also be caused by a low battery. See, the relay kicks in, the starter starts to pull, the voltage drops, and now there's not enough voltage to hold the relay in. So it drops out. Voltage goes back up, relay pulls back in, lather, rinse, repeat.

The NEXT thing is to put an analog (preferably!) or digital voltmeter on the electrical and see what's happening when you try to start.

A bad starter can cause this due to it pulling excessive current causing the kicks-in-voltage-drops-falls-out-voltage-goes-up-lather-rinse-repeat cycle.

RwP
 
I agree with Ralph ... there could be multiple causes. (Maybe I have gained wisdom in the last 3 years?)

I would try cleaning all the connections first ... I was surprised how much corrosion was present at the starter terminals after only a couple of years since I replaced my starter. The relay/solenoid connections on the fender could be corroded too.

(My car wasn't starting earlier this spring. I was getting one "CLACK" and then nothing. So the relay/solenoid was working, but the starter didn't move.)

After doing that, I actually opened up the starter and took a look. The gaps in the motor's commutator were jammed with dust from the brushes. So I cleaned those out with a toothpick, added a small amount of grease to the sleeve bearings at each end of the starter, and reassembled it.

Now the car cranks over fast and has no trouble starting.

You may not need to go that far. I would check the connections first ... all of them ... then test the battery voltage while cranking. Then see if you need to go farther.
 
Before you even THINK about fiddling with the fender relay - have the battery load tested, and make certain there's no corrosion at the battery terminals.

The rapid clicking can also be caused by a low battery. See, the relay kicks in, the starter starts to pull, the voltage drops, and now there's not enough voltage to hold the relay in. So it drops out. Voltage goes back up, relay pulls back in, lather, rinse, repeat.

The NEXT thing is to put an analog (preferably!) or digital voltmeter on the electrical and see what's happening when you try to start.

A bad starter can cause this due to it pulling excessive current causing the kicks-in-voltage-drops-falls-out-voltage-goes-up-lather-rinse-repeat cycle.

RwP

+1, I just had this issue and got the car running today. Take the terminials off and scrape the inside of them clean with a screwdriver or something, be carefull not to take alot of metal off, just enough to get it shiny. then clean the post, I used a wire brush.

My terminals were so corroided I had unknowingly grounded out the battery + post taking it off and it didnt do anything......until I cleane both post and was putting in back on, lets just say I was shocked, not litteraly. Stupid extension....
 
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