My truck wont start. It makes a clicking noise when I turn the key.. Please Help!?

Question

I have a 2000 v8 dodge dakota sport. I had been having problems with it stalling in cold weather or even rainy weather and even had troubles starting it at times. I went to start it today after I had already been driving it around and it sounded like it might start the first 2 times I tried. The third time it didnt make any noise other then a faint clicking sound. (I did not leave the lights on or do anything that could have drained the battery and also the battery is only about a year or so old). Afterwards I was able to get it jump started and it worked for the rest of the night.. I jumped it again this morning and now its not starting again.. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

You have a dead battery.

Answer 2

There are a number of things that will give you this problem.
It could be as simple as a bad connection or as complicated as needing a new starter,alternator and or battery. I have bought a new one of each and all three not be any good. Not on the same vehicle of course. Just keep in mind that if nothing shows up at the free Advance and or Auto Zone battery /alternator,starter check. The problem can be a bad or loose connection on the battery. There is also a small negative wire that comes from the negative battery terminal to the body or frame of the vehicle. There are many dodge vehicles that will go dead completely and will not do anything if this wire is loose or disconnected be sure to check this wire. A good way to check your battery yourself is to turn on your headlights if they do not come on at all start checking your connections including the small wire. When the headlights are on try to crank the engine if the lights dim and or go out you have a battery or connection problem or its possible that you have a large voltage drop due to a bad starter. If the lights stay bright then you have a bad connection or a no connection or a solenoid not pulling in. It may click indicating the power from the switch is getting to the solenoid but the contacts that connect the battery to the starter are not making a connection or are bad. A click usually means the solenoid is pulling in but the contacts could still be burnt preventing the connection Good Luck

Answer 3

Battery problem most likely dead cell in battery. It happens and makes no difference how old or new a battery is sometimes cells short out internally. You need to have it load tested with a gird type battery tester that puts a load on the battery not just a voltage test using a DMM.
Something else you could look at. Caught more service calls on this than the law allows. Dirty and corroded battery terminals will also cause that as well.
You not having any trouble with starting it the rest of night tends to rule out alternators and regulator.
Third down on the list is your starter. It might be going bad on you. Lot of reasons on this one: Windings partly shorted out, brushes getting short and not making good contact with commutator all the time, Bearings dry and trying to freeze up.
Fourth down on list: Starter Solenoid contacts inside the solemoid might be getting burned and worn to where they are not making good contact all the time. Caught one or two of these as well. Easy was to find that is jumper around it with a set of battery cables.

Answer 4

There are a multitude of problems you may be having. Your battery may simply need to be recharged. It doesn't sound like any problem with your starter system as you're hearing the solenoid clicking. Just not enough juice from the battery to complete the job.

Either your battery has gone bad (in just a year) or it's not getting the chance to recharge when the engine is running. If you're only driving for less than an hour, your battery won't charge back up enough. You'll need to use an electric charger to recharge the battery.

If your alternator or voltage regulator is defective, then your battery won't recharge during driving but actually continues to discharge. You should be seeing an alternator warning light or negative indication on the gauge if that's the case.

Lastly, never ignore excessive corrosion buildup on the battery posts. Though cars seem to work just fine with it, it STILL means excess resistance which makes it harder for a battery to start the car, as well as making it harder for the battery to get recharged while driving. And don't use Coke to remove corrosion; that's a myth. Wire post brushes are available very cheap from auto supply stores to scrub off corrosion.

Answer 5

It could be a couple of different things. First, your battery could be bad and you need to replace it but because it's a year old that may not be it. Second, you could have bad batter cable connections or the connections aren't tight anymore due to corrosion or loosening over time. Check them to see if they're loose or badly corroded. Loose ones can be easily tightened and you can use a can of regular coke to remove a lot of the corrosion - just open and pour. The third thing that it could be is the alternator. This is the most costly of the three but due to the age of your truck it's a real possibility. I'd check and or replace the battery connectors because they could just have a bad connection then the battery (get one with more power than the one you have so you won't have as many issues with the cold starts. If all of these fail then get an estimate for an alternator. I just had to replace an alternator and battery on one car and the battery and connections on my Jeep so I feel your pain.

Answer 6

The problem is that the relay is no good, the ignition won't turn and the starter is wearing down because of all the trying.
You will have to have it towed to a pro and there they can replace the relay, check the ignition and that too may have to be replaced. The starter and celenoid may have to be repaired. But this is that the battery is in need of replacement which will eventually rundown all the rest of the components.
No matter how many times you recharge a battery, the problem will still persist and worsen the situation. This has happened before to me, but my ex did not want a new battery and I did, so I had to go through all the repairs and replacements.

Answer 7

Well : did you check the " Fule Enjector & Sensor and Electric Fule Pump in which those can be worn out also will
cause an problem as so maybe starter Switch is not engaging with Flywheel !" but it's the best effort to call your
Local Gmc/Dodge Repairstation plus ask for their tow service

Answer 8

1. is the battery big enough as it may be OK in warmer weather but useless in colder weather as it take more power to turn over a cold engine. You may be better to get a very large commercial truck battery
2. check the starter motor as the bushes could be worn or the solenoid may need replacing,have you any teeth missing from the starter cog

Answer 9

you can take this one to auto zone and have them check the battery,just because its just a year old doesn't mean its good,i bought a new one ,and in less than a month it was doing like yours is doing,that's what it sounds like either that or a bad connection,make sure the cables are on good and tight and are clean and have no corrosion on them,you could also have a starter going bad on it,that too will cause it to act like this,auto zone can check the starter for you also,and the check is free,you cant loose by doing this,then you,ll know for sure,good luck with it.

Answer 10

Could be the relay in back of the glove box.Take the glove box out and reach in and down to try to find it.I believe that is the one that goes to the blower.Pull fuses till the noise quits and then you will know what circuit it is on.

Answer 11

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