What are the most common reasons for a car not to start?

Question

I have a Toyota Corolla with 105K miles. It started one month ago in the morning: Once in a while the car would not start on first turn. Last week it started happening more often. lights are on and there is a faint click from the front.
Starter? Alternator or something else?

Answer 1

Starter, battery, alternator not charging correctly, battery cables loose or corroded, poor ground connection. Could be a number of these.
good Luck

Answer 2

This is a problem with a lot of vehicles that is overlooked for this reason: when a mechanic will hook up their computer and download the codes from the car's computer, the codes will generally tell you the problem the car or truck is having, if the car or truck kicked a code to the computer. Then the car or truck will run through a diagnostic system check and when the system check comes back fine and there are no problems then what? Sometimes the problem can not be found by the computer and the reason is that when the car or truck runs it's system check, everything checks out fine! How can this be when the vehicle just stops running and then starts running after you pull to the side of the road and shut it down for a couple of minutes? The answer is simple. The ignition relay acts like a breaker in a house; when you have a relay that is weak, you will get this problem. But the computer will test it as good becouse it still is good. It's just weak, making it trip. The reason it will start again is because the relay will automatically reset itself after the relay cools and you are off and running again. To explain the type of reaction your car or truck would experience if this were to happen is as follows: The car or truck will just plain die! no warning! IT WILL NOT spit and sputter like it is running out of gas.

Now, a module for the distributer will act the same way, but the difference is that the car or truck will not continue to start after a period of time. My suggestion is a cheap way to fiqure this out: purchase a continuity tester at any local hardware store (they are only a couple of dollars) and check the leads coming from the distributer mod. If it is good, it will light up the continuity tester. If it is bad, it won't. This only works if the car will not run at all because the mod will check good if it is weak as well as the ignition relay. Another way to fiqure this out is to go to a local junk yard and pick up a distributer mod and a ignition relay and it will cost you maybe the better part of $10.00 and you may be worry free as long as you own the car with the used part. But if you feel uncomfortable putting used parts into the ingnition system, then replace one or the other but not both and see which one works and then buy new.

Sometimes your car will just plain stop running if you have a faulty coil wire. I had this problem before where it didn't matter what time of day or the weather, it turned out to be a coil wire. Good luck!

Answer 3

The faint click most likely the starter solenoid that is normal normally you can not hear the click because when it clicks the engine turns over, the engine is louder of course. It sounds like you have a loose or bad connection from the battery or the battery is bad itself.

If it is the battery and the battery is old and will not hold a charge check water or buy a new one.
if the battery has no charge but will charge up on a battery charger go to #1
if batter has good charge go to #2

1) Battery is not being charged by the cars charging system, could be alternator is bad(if so go to #4), or loose/bad connection(if so go to #3).
2) Loose of bad wire connection(if so go to #3), starter solenoid is bad(if so go to #5), or starter is bad(if so go to#5) .
3) replace or fix bad or loose connection.
4) remove alternator and have it tested at an auto zone it is free or any other place that tests them.
5) replace. (Hint starter solenoids are much cheaper than starters check and replace it first.)

Nickname has a lot of good points and a lot of it is true BUT just so you do not get confused, compression, fuel mixture, spark, exhaust, all these things only come into play when the engine will turn over (rotate the inner workings of the engine) but not fire up(or start). Because yours will not turn over, but instead only click, these do not pertain to you.

PS. 105K miles on a Toyota is like 105 miles on chevy. Those things run forever.

Answer 4

More then like it is your starter. Also get your batter terminals checked. No you can do that part on your own. Open the hood, find the battery, see if there is any corrosion on it (white stuff) if so take a gallon of water or your garden hose and just pour water over it about a gallon or more. Remember I said just plain water no coke or sprite. Make sure that none of the liquid get on your clothes though. If there is no corrosion on the batter terminal or if there was any (in both cases) take a hammer or a tire iron or any thing solid and heavy and tap/hit the terminals clock or counter clock wise. Don't beat down on the terminal as it may damage your battery. After moving the terminals just a little, now check if the car starts. If not, then it would be best to take it to the repair shop. Like I mentioned earlier, most like your starter but then it could be something else. Corollas from 92-97 have a serious starter problem. Good Luck !!!

Answer 5

Reasons For Car Not Starting

Answer 6

The reason is because it's not a Mercedes.

This are the three reasons: a bad fuel mix, lack of compression or lack of spark. Beyond that, thousands of minor things can create problems, but these are the "big three."

Bad fuel mix - A bad fuel mix can occur in several ways:
You are out of gas, so the engine is getting air but no fuel.
The air intake might be clogged, so there is fuel but not enough air.
The fuel system might be supplying too much or too little fuel to the mix, meaning that combustion does not occur properly.
There might be an impurity in the fuel (like water in your gas tank) that makes the fuel not burn.
Lack of compression - If the charge of air and fuel cannot be compressed properly, the combustion process will not work like it should. Lack of compression might occur for these reasons:
Your piston rings are worn (allowing air/fuel to leak past the piston during compression).
The intake or exhaust valves are not sealing properly, again allowing a leak during compression.
There is a hole in the cylinder.
The most common "hole" in a cylinder occurs where the top of the cylinder (holding the valves and spark plug and also known as the cylinder head) attaches to the cylinder itself. Generally, the cylinder and the cylinder head bolt together with a thin gasket pressed between them to ensure a good seal. If the gasket breaks down, small holes develop between the cylinder and the cylinder head, and these holes cause leaks.
Lack of spark - The spark might be nonexistent or weak for a number of reasons:

If your spark plug or the wire leading to it is worn out, the spark will be weak.
If the wire is cut or missing, or if the system that sends a spark down the wire is not working properly, there will be no spark.
If the spark occurs either too early or too late in the cycle (i.e. if the ignition timing is off), the fuel will not ignite at the right time, and this can cause all sorts of problems.
Many other things can go wrong. For example:
If the battery is dead, you cannot turn over the engine to start it.
If the bearings that allow the crankshaft to turn freely are worn out, the crankshaft cannot turn so the engine cannot run.
If the valves do not open and close at the right time or at all, air cannot get in and exhaust cannot get out, so the engine cannot run.
If someone sticks a potato up your tailpipe, exhaust cannot exit the cylinder so the engine will not run.
If you run out of oil, the piston cannot move up and down freely in the cylinder, and the engine will seize.

Answer 7

My guess would be it's your starter. Actually, that's a sort of educated guess. Though I know very little about cars in general, I had exactly the same problem years ago with my first car, which was a Nissan Sentra. It happened a few times, and it didn't bother me really until it got so bad it was hit or miss if my car would start at all. I actually had to do that start thing where someone pushes you and you pop the clutch and hope it starts. I hadn't told my husband about the problem, and he diagnosed it immediately as a starter problem, and that's exactly what it was. Apparently the clicking noise tipped him off. The good news is that that particular part was very inexpensive, and it only took our mechanic a short time to fix it, so the cost was minimal.

Answer 8

some of the reasons are that you may have a low battery cell, you need new spark plugs and wires, or you may have a bad alternator. It wouldn't be your starter if you heard a click when you tried to turn it over.

Answer 9

Most common reason a car won't start......if setting a long time without being started is a bad/weak battery. Boost or check the battery and it should start.........it does have gas in it right?

Answer 10

9 times out of 10 its your starter