Problem starting car.?

Question

Whenever I try to start my car, I get a clicking sound, but the lights, radio all go on. The second this car is jumped it starts. Why could be wrong? Is it the starter or a fuse? If it's a fuse, how could I check it, as in, what would a blown fuse look like?

Answer 1

Weak battery. The lights and radio don't draw a lot of amps from the battery. The starter motor needs a lot of amps to turn over. The clicking sound you hear is the starter motor not getting enough current to do it's job.

Get the battery inspected. You may have run the electrolites low and replace the battery with a new one if necessary. A parts store will typically attempt to charge your battery for free (it will typically take a few hours, so be prepared to just leave the battery there) before letting you know if the battery needs to be replaced.

The other thing to check is be sure the connections between the car and the battery are clean and tight. Make sure you wear rubber gloves, and clean off any acid build up with baking soda and water, or you'll get some nasty acid burns if you're not careful.

Answer 2

That clicking sound you hear is the solenoid switch which controls the starter motor. When you turn the key, what happens is that you energize this switch, which is really a BIG relay, which closes the switch to connect the starter to the battery. The starter is drawing enough power to drop the voltage low enough that the solenoid switch opens on a low voltage condition and since your fingers are still on the switch, it closes again, the starter drops the voltage again and round it goes, causing the clicking sound you are hearing. Now, as to what causes the voltage to drop to the extremely low level while your lights and such still work. Two possibilities, old age of the battery and poor electrical connections. Old age is just that, batteries "wear out" and lose charge holding capacity. As the battery ages, it has less and less "cranking power" which is what it takes to drive the starter motor, however it retains enough capacity for handling low level drains like the radio and lights. If you crank the engine while the lights are on, you will most likely see them dim way down while the solenoid is energized. Next, poor connections cause resistance. The circuit has to be of low resistance to work. Most times, it is the battery terminals which oxidize and insert resistance into the circuit. The more resistance, the less is available to turn the starter. The most common point is the actual connections to the battery. Take these apart and use some sand paper to sand the surfaces that mate and put them back together and tighten securely. Come to think of it, there is a third possibility, your charging circuit has failed and your battery is simply discharged because it stopped getting recharged as you drove around.

There you are, three things; battery old age, corroded connections, and/or failed charging are the possibilities as to why your starter fails to crank the engine. It could be a combination of all of the above or any combination.

Answer 3

Either the starter or the flywheel depending on how old your car is.
I doubt that it is a fuse but it wouldn't hurt to check them you can buy a fuse tester at any auto parts store or do the less expensive thing and pull each fuse out one by one and visually inspect them ..if the fuse is blown you will be able to tell just by looking. Good luck

Answer 4

whilst the motor vehicle isn't working, any electric products used (radio, headlights, and so on) will use the battery's power. whilst a motor vehicle is working, the battery gets recharged by using the engine - yet needless to say can in elementary terms final on recharges for see you later. whilst replaced into the battery final replaced? in case you do no longer know, cant bear in mind, or know it replaced right into an prolonged time in the past, get a clean one. if that doesnt help, have a mechanic look at it. for the destiny, tell your son if hes going to run the radio like that, he desires to start his motor vehicle each and every now and then and enable it run for a jiffy to stay away from the battery from loss of life - theyre no longer inexpensive.

Answer 5

You have a "no crank" (NOT a "no start") condition. First remove and clean your battery cable connectors with the wire brush type shown below you buy at the local auto parts store. Replace your battery if it's over 4 years old with a new one.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2010636/c-10101/Nty-1/p-2010636/Ntx-mode+matchallpartial/N-10101/tf-Browse/s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=battery+post+cleaner+brush

Answer 6

starter, fuse, battery... take it in.