Car won't start, what is the problem? 11 points for best answer.?

Question

1993 nissan max, auto trans,24 valve twin cam 3000. Starter is fine, battery is fine. It won't even turn over. When you turn the key it makes a single click sound. What is the problem?

The car will not turn over at all. Just a single click sound when i turn the key.

Where is the lock out switch on the trany located?

PEOPLE, the battery is fine, i had it checked. The starter is fine, i had it checked. The battery cables are fine i had them checked. What's wrong?

Answer 1

All right. I'll take a crack at this. For us armchair mechanics, you havent given us enough details to truly diagnose your problem. For example, when you say you had the battery checked, how was it checked? OCV test or capacitance load test? Same with the starter-if the car wont start, how did you test it? Did you take it out and have it bench-tested?

So, lets proceed with the assumption that you had the battery load tested and it held 9.6V or more for the testing period, and the starter passed a bench test out of the car, and then you re-installed it. The first thing you need to do is get a multi-meter and see how many volts are at the battery cable attached to the starter. If you have lost more than .3V from the battery to the starter, then you have loose or dirty connections or you have a bad battery cable. If you can get a jumper cable directly on the starter battery terminal and then hook the other end to your battery, you can bypass your battery cable and provide direct battery voltage to your starter.

If you dont find a problem with a voltage problem, then you might be heading down the possibility of a locked up motor. Put a socket with a 1/2" ratchet on the crank pulley and try to spin the engine (put trans in neutral with parking brake on) If motor wont spin this way, then the starter will just click when you turn the key.

Is that worth 11 points?!

Answer 2

I had a 2005 GMC Sierra come into my shop with the same problem, turned out (after) we had to reset the codes for the security system, the driver window started binding, so we popped the door pannel off and found a slimjim at the bottom of the door wedged into the track. Turned out, someone tried breaking into the truck, activating the security system, making it "unstealable". I don't know if the same goes for Ford, but that would be my guess, either there was a internal fault or there was an attempted break in. Like I said, That was a GM and I'm not sure how the Ford security system works.

Answer 3

well if you are sure that it is not the starter or battery then it has got to be either the spark plugs, the coil, the distributor or the wires to the coil. BUT be careful I don't know the circumstances, but my wifes car died on us and it made a big 'clunk' sound when i tried to turn it over and the interior lights would dim. well i finally got it to turn over and it made a horrible noise ' calunk-calunk-calunk' the it just died. well later i checked the oil and it was like 3 times what it was supposed to be so i drained the oil and it was filled with radiator fluid!
Next i took off the intake manifold and found pieces of a valve that had been demolished in side of the port. the car had sucked a valve and the it went into the piston cylinder and
tore up the cylinder. the engine is trash now.
so make sure your car isn't doing any of those if it isn't then it is probably one of the lesser problems i earlier mentioned

Answer 4

If you KNOW your Battery is good, Bang the Starter about 10 times with a hammer.

Many times, odd occurances such as this end up being the 'Starter piston' being stuck in the flywheel.

Give it a shot. It won't hurt anything, and it's free. Remember, you need to bang hard.

If that don't work, go after the starter solenoid(usually attached to the starter on those cars, so you would need to replace the starter most likely).
-JimR

Answer 5

I agree with Pedro, 9 out of 10 times it's dirty or loose cables, take them off and clean them real good and then tighten them....if not, you have a bad starter...

or in a rare case, the head gasket blew and filled the cylinders with water and caused a hydrolock, make sure it will turn over by hand first before trying to start... check the spark plugs for water..

if you dropped a valve like the guy above me, you should have heard something...

Answer 6

what you describe is a battery or starter problem a car makes a clicking sound when the battery desnt have enuff juice to start the car or the solenoid on the starter is out try jumping it and make sure the connection is good

Answer 7

Clean your battery terminals.
If it still won't work -
Automatic - move the shifter a little or try it in neutral.
Standard transmission - check safety switch on the clutch pedal

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Answer 8

Clean your battery posts and clamps first.Then if you still not going to able to start the car(one click),sound like you need STARTER.

Answer 9

Sounds to me like an altinator issue. Thats what they do when it wont start ur batterie alone cant start ur car what they do is charge ur alternator up to get the car started and then keep pumpin it with electricity. Get ur alti checked out.

Answer 10

sounds like a bad solenoid

it could be clogged fuel filter clogged air filter clogged fuel injectors bad spark plugs bad rotor and cap on distributor bad spark plug wires it could also be bad battery cables lack of compression becauase of worn out piston rings it could also be that your valve timing is off becuase of a slipping belt could also be a bad fuel pump