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Car Starting Problems
Some of the common car starting problems stem from a discharged battery, a bad fuel pump (or no fuel), a weakened starter motor, or a broken electrical connection. Checking each part will help troubleshoot why the car won’t start.
5,524 Questions
Check the 92 Camaro neutral safety switch next. If the switch is faulty then the starter will not get power to start the engine.
White smoke is coolant burning off. You have a coolant leak or the engine is overheating. Have this looked at by a professional ASAP, and stop driving the car.
No spark from coil wire 1971 vw?
Suspect a bad coil wire or a defective coil. ANOTHER ANSWER The "cam follower" on the points are NOTORIOUS on a VW. Remove the distributor cap and turn the engine by hand to see if the points are opening and closing.
The air cooled VW engines of that vintage were inexpensive to operate but required nearly CONSTANT tinkering. You need to adjust the valves every 6,000 miles to keep from burning an exhaust valve, and you need to constantly check the point gap and timing. If the cam follower has worn enough to keep the points from opening, DON'T attempt to reuse the points, they MUST be replaced. As a former VW mechanic, may I suggest that you start with the points and DON'T mess with the coil wire or the coil quite yet. The points are a far more common problem.
How do you put a engine start button?
CHECK YOUR WIRING DIAGRAMS TO BE SURE YOU DON'T NEED A RELAY.
Make sure your switch can handle the amperage on the starter circuit!!!
Buy a multimeter (if you don't have one).
Put it on Volts DC.
Go to the back of your ignition switch.
Find the constant 12 volt wire (always hot).
Turn the key to accessory and find which wire now has power (this is your accessory).
Turn the key to "on" and find which wire has power now (this is your ignition wire).
Only one wire should be left, this is your starter wire.
Now disconnect the battery
To start with key
Tap into the ignition wire and run a wire to the POWER terminal on the switch
Tap into the starter wire and run another wire to the ACC side of the switch
To start without the key
Tap into the always hot wire and run a wire to the POWER terminal on the switch
Tap into the starter wire and run another wire to the ACC side of the switch
If your button is illuminated, you will also need to run a ground wire to the switch
CHECK YOUR WIRING DIAGRAMS TO BE SURE YOU DONT NEED A RELAY.
How to start 1996 el falcon Falcon el wont start?
Firstly, check that the interior roof lamp is working. The smartlock system works off the same circuit, and if the fuse is blown, the car will not have any spark. If that fails to be the issue, test the coil, distributor individually. Coil may have hairline crack, ignition module of distributor may be at fault.
try the fuel pump relay in the engine bay. check wiring schematic for locations. swap with a/c relay or other same style relay to rule out a bad relay.
Why is your automatic car stuck in park?
This sometimes happens when you park your car with the steering wheel turned too far to the right or to the left locking the steering wheel and trans. in park.
What causes a 1992 olds toronado not to start after a heavy rain?
Usually a starting problem that is as specific as the one you describe will be related to the high voltage ignition. Check the distributor cap, coil wire, rotor and plug wires. When you pull the distributor cap, look for evidence of arcing along the inside of the cap. Sometimes a set of plug wires will solve a problem like that. Often the extra humidity and condensate associated with a rainstorm can cause arcing of the high voltage that is SUPPOSED to fire the sparkplugs. If the high voltage takes a different path to ground, you will have nothing for the plugs. A small hole in the plug wires or some extra moisture on the inside of the distributor cap can certainly cause the problem you describe. Good luck.
the distributer could have gone bad on you. To say they were problamatic on the aspires is an understatement. i personally believe they should have been recalled. there is a service bulletin on the distributer, and a replacement available, but it's not free. the basic problem is that the coil is built into the distributer, and when it starts overheating it fries the ignition module. on most cars the fis is simple, a $20 ignition module or a $50 replacement coil. but life can never be that easy, because the distributer is completely non servicable. i looked it up in the shop manual, the procedure for repairing a distriibuter problem reads "replace distributer with new model". the news only gets worse too my friend because not only is the distributer not servicable, it's also not diagnosable. the powertrain book lists test for the coil, but not the ignition module. and if you take it into your friendly auto parts store to be tested they will either turn you away immediatly or rummage around in the drawer of connectors for about 10 minutes before they tell you they can't help you. bottom line is you have 3 choices a rebuilt stock model distributer at about $280, the new upgraded ford part at about $580 or a junkyard distributer for about $30. i have had a junkyard one that lasted 30 miles and a rebuilt stock one that lasted 4 days. never tried the new ford unit so i can't give any advice about that except that it's too expensive.
What causes a 2005 Chevy 1500 5.3 to turn over fine but have no spark?
Check the CPS crankshaft position sensor first...then use a dvom to look at the coils... I'd get a manual for the diagnostics...and your library may have one to use free dave
I have 1999 ford windstar and when it rain it won't start up what could it be?
What is the age / condition of the spark plugs, wires and coil???
Wet conditions will make electrical problems the worst since electricity loves to travel along water / wet paths more than dry.
If you're still running original equipment, plan on replacing the plugs and wires.
See "Related Questions" below for tons of great advice
Why did my car make a loud grinding noise when i tryed to start it?
Starter and/or starter drive gear failure. This could lead to damaging the ring gear which is costly to repair.
It could be a worn key, especially if the key is a copy. It could also be sticking tumblers from someone spraying oil in there. Oil thickens over time and eventually the tumblers will start to stick.
Try this, go to a good locksmith shop and explain the problem. He probably has some graphite based lubricant that you can put in the tumblers or maybe even a better idea. Also, he should be able to cut a key that is to original specs. It would be a lot cheaper than replacing the keyswitch.
89 Ford F-250 turns over but wont start at cold?
I purchased a1986 ford f-250 truck from pravite party they dont know what size eng. i look up no stickers or any info on eng or body How can you tell the eng size?
Another problem I tried start few time at cold it start then go off. Choke seem problem so when motor is warm it easy to start and driveable. How do i fix the choke or should i replace at what parts.
Why doesnt starter engage on 1996 Saturn?
What do you mean when you say it doesn't engage? Is the starter spinning but just doesn't catch to spin the engine? IF that's the case it could be as simple as a loose starter or as bad as a damaged flex plate/flywheel. But it would most likely be the starter.
What do you mean by "not all the way starting the car"? If you mean thsat it sputters or tries to start, but does not....welll lets go to basics....these three things must happen or your car will not start.....among others, less likely...
you must have...fuel, air, and spark.....compression is also very important, but assumed unless you had some "catastrophic occurrence"...
Timing is crucial, but again lets ask the question, did you have some kind of .....errr, catastrophe....leading to this issue....if so then you can bet complications abound, right....
I am not an ASE mechanic with 50 grand in tools, but for the most part, you don't need to be either.....mostly this is logical, reasonable deduction, and yes a few tools, in particular an electrical meter, would be handy.
firstly, some modern vehicles will require you to either prime or bleed the air out of your sysytem, after you replace a fuel pump, filter, etc....or run out of gas.....I am going to ask you, at the risk of YOU sounding stupid...you DO have gas, right???? (i can count at least a dozen times when i have "fixed" a car, that needed gas)....
O kay, assuming you have gas, and you have "burped the air out of or primed your fuel delivery system( there is a bicycle type valve on most fuel delivery rails on fuel injected vehicles that when depressed, will allow you to "burp" air out of the system....).
By the way....always, not sometimes, ALWAYS have a fire extinquisher handy, right there beside you when you are messin with high pressure, late model fuel injection, or any type of fuel delivery system.....it gets ugly quicker than you can imagine.
Next we go to spark.....easy test....pull a spark plug wire, ground it with any kind of metal shaft.....geez, do we really have to explain this???
Air, lets assume you do not have a mongoose sleeping in your airbox.....check your air passageway....did you go four wheelin in mud up to your armpit? Gee, your air filter may be clogged.....enough, already.....check it, fix it, for gods sake change it every millenium.
You mentioned all these new parts....why? what prompted you to just assume you needed all this new stuff? was your car crying because you had not spent any money on it in ten years.....there are easier ways to make her happy...
Most people will replace, lets say, the battery first when their car won't start, not thinking it may be a dead cell in the battery, a cable or lack of good ground....this is a good time to ask, do you have a good ground( and power, 12 V) to ALL of your systems, in particular your fuel and spark(distributor) systems? Did you inadvertantly loosen or disconnect something in all of this part replacing you did????This is a great time to introduce the multimeter, electrical tester into our diagnoses.....knowing how to use this simple tool can help you avoid replacing your transmission when your radio won't work....
Ok, that should be more than enough to get you on your way to a proper diagnoses......If not, just keep replacing parts, they will still tow it away when you are finished, and i can have all those new parts that i find at the junkyard on your car.....sorrry, it happens a lot....be smarter than than that!
What turns the oil pump in 2.8L v6?
There is a hexagonal rod between the oil pump and distributor. As the distributor turns so does the oil pump. The newer DIS engines use a distributor plug that retains the drive gear for the oil pump rod.
might be the fuel pump. crawl under the truck and beat on the gas tank and get some one to try to crank it. if it fires your fuel pump was the problem.
Why would the ignition key not turn to the off position?
The cable from the shifter is out of adjustment. I tried for several hours on my Saturn to coax the key out. What ended up working for me was a result of the rage of just having my car service and having this crop up. I hit the shifter HARD when it was in the park position and that apparently jarred whatever was causing the stick loose. (Probably not the best approach to fixing this...it hurt my hand and probably the car, but I did manage to get the key out with repeatable success.)
AnswerEither the cable shifter is out of adjustment, like the first answer suggested, or the lock cylinder itself is bad, which is what you insert the key into.Q: "What would be wrong with your 1990 Chevy K1500 series truck if the fusible link is fine and the solenoid and starter are fine but it still wont kick over?" Besides the obvious double/triple checks of battery connections and main battery lead resistance.... and assuming you don't go completely dead when the key is turned... 1) double check wiring on starter if recently replaced. There are often 2 prongs on the solenoid on the GMs, and if the ign wire is hooked to the wrong one, the starter wont turn . the other prong is often unused after they went to HEI ignition. if you have a volt meter you can check for voltage at the solenoid wire with the key in "start". 2) if no voltage at that wire with key in "start" position, possible bad or disconnected NSS (neutral safety switch). This is normally found at the base of the steering column on GMs with column shift automatics. If manual trans, there may be a switch at the clutch pedal. Check voltage with volt meter with key in "start" position. 3) if no voltage to safety switch, you might have a bad ign switch. This is found about halfway up the column on most GMs of that era. The column must be partially dropped to get to it. A wiring diagram from a manual will help to check which wire should have voltage with key in "start". If no voltage there, you need the diagram to tell you where to go next (the fusable link i think is part of that side of the circuit).
98 Ford Taurus won't start after new spark plugs and wires were replaced?
check the wires from the coil pack to the plug
make sure that the plug clicks into place
check to see if you even have any spark by pulling one of the new plugs and or the old and ground it to the motor and have some one turn the motor over and look an see if you have any spark older spark plug may not work try a new one if poss.
if you have spark that obviously means that isn't your problem whether they were gapped or not i havent ever gapped my plugs for the three yrs ive owned it and its allways ran i change my plugs every 4 weeks
if you can make sure you look to see if your getting fuel you can check that on the release valve on the end of the fuel rail ,that's where i put my inline alcohol injection... if that's not your problem then dis-connect your battery and wait for at least an hour before you connect it again to reset your ECU ( DO NOT DIS-CONNECT WHILE THE CAR IS ON) then try to start it again if no go then try this one last thing get a new ECU cause that's the only other thing i can think of unless your firing order is messed up but the front of the motor should be 123 then the 2nd head should be 456 start from left to right on each set.. and if you have any other questions feel free to email me @ ballzbaile002@AOL.com
john..
Check your air filter. Is it petrol or diesel? the most common cause is poor air flow to the engine. Hope this helps.
