Car Starting Problems

Sounds like a poor connection at the battery or starter.electrical connections.

Well, in some cars the slight acidity of the rain could cause the engine to cut off the egnition twist switch. If you rub some PVA glue on the engine it should cancel out some of the acidity. Tell me if it works, as i have some more suggestions if not.

Could be that the battery is still too week to turn the starter. beyond that, it is probably a starter issue. If the wiring is not loose at the starter. More than likely it is a bad solenoid or starter. One little trick is to give the starter a couple of light taps (don't try to kill it) with a hammer or semi heavy blunt instrument. Sometimes as they get older they will seize and blunt force knocks it loose.

Just because the starter has been replaced, it still shouldn't be ruled out. I have had several occasions that a remanufactured starter failed. Typically Autozone or Advance auto parts stores carry these POS. Having said that, I would be looking for a bad connection or maybe an ignition switch. Some vehicles have a large heavy relay to drive the starter motor, if this is old, dirty or damaged it may be sluggish to operate Some new vehicles have a ignition switch that sends a signal to the ECM and the ecm tells a relay when to turn over the engine. These have a delayed effect. Brake pedals will be incorporated this way also, eliminated the hydrolic brake systems completely.

The CCA of batteries varies from one battery to the next. Normally the higher CCA the more the battery costs. Just buy one that is at least as big as the OEM battery.

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CCA is not equivalent to ampere-hours. One ampere-hour is equal to 3600 coulombs (ampere-seconds), the electric charge transferred by a steady current of one ampere for one second. A coulomb is one ampere times one second. An ampere (and coulomb) is 6.241 × 1018 electrons in one second passing a point in a circuit.

CCA is the max number of amps a car battery can deliver in each second until it is discharged below a certain amount of electrons.

So how many amp-hours in a car battery? It depends--on the size of the battery. Larger cells mean more amp-hours stored in each cell.

replace the distrubator cap and rotor could have a crack in it

Reasonable chance of ignition wires, (maybe cap and rotor if it has them) failing. I had an '82 Honda that did that and the rain was shorting out the battery when it splashed up. If I disconnected the battery everytime I stopped, I didn't have a problem. I finely took it to a mechanic to fix it.

The engine service light is on because there is a problem. The problem has to be fixed before the light can be reset. Your local auto parts store can plug a scanning device into your car and read the trouble code(s). They won't charge you for this service if you purchase the parts needed to repair the car from them.

look from the bottom on the back side of the engine you'll see it there. When you get under the car, it's in the middle of the engine/gearbox, above the exhaust, to left from the oil pan. it's easier to see if from the right side (passenger).

Could be poor cable connections. Check black ground and red positive, may need to remove and clean both ends. Lead on battery end can be cleaned with wire brush, knife or sandpaper, cable going into end can be scraped with knife.

But it's usually old or dying battery (starting takes a lot of power.) Don't replace starter or other parts if battery's old or shows problems. Testers availabe at auto supply stores, or they can test it.

Hi, I just saw this and thought I could offer some help as I had removed my starter relay and made some repairs to it. It is fairly difficult to find: Push your driver side seat back and position yourself so your head is looking up underneath the stearing column (the top of your head should be pointing at the brake pedal). Look just to your right of the stearing column, its up a far way. For me it was a small grey box. If you've found it, now you need to remove it, which is just as difficult as finding it. I believe there is some sort of clip mechanism that holds it there, you need something to push that clip in and the cartridge should slide off (mine was stuck on there pretty good). Now that you have it off you probably want to fix it, I just cleaned it up and scratched off some of the corrosion on it and it worked fine from then on. Note: these directions took place on a 92 Honda Prelude SR so no guarantee they are the same for all models. Good luck. ~Morgan

You shouldn't replace anything until you've checked out the diagnostic codes. Find out what the computer has detected. Then start going through to isolate the problem. If you just replace a bunch of parts, I can almost guarantee that something will get connected wrong then you'll NEVER be able to find the problem.

THe transmission selector is worn, so the need to start it in the neutral position, which still has a workable contact switch, while the park position is worn out. like the other guy said, also you might have to adjust your shift linkage

Its sounds like the distributor or distributor cap/rotor,something in the timing may be off. High tension cable may be broken, or connectors poor. Or you may have cranked so much that the engine is flooded with fuel, so wait a couple of hours and try again.

there are two connections to the positive side of the battery, one to the starter, one to the accessories. some times corrosion get in between these two pieces. To correct this, i actual bought a battery with both positive connectors, (post and screw in) i hooked the starter up to one + part and the accessories to the other +. haven't had a problem since. Hope this helps

Assuming that the starter is rotating and turning over the engine. Check for spark Check for fuel - You can get a can of starter fluid form an auto supply stoe - spray a little into the intake. Car should try to start - if it atttempts to run for a few seconds then the problem is fuel relatedm if not then it is spark related.

Timing belt ok? pull covers and check timing belt and timing marks. compression test would also tell . for engine to run you need fuel, spark, and compression. you have two of the three ingredients for combustion? Good luck

it's easy to check the solenoid, put a screw driver across the large nut & the smaller one, and if the starter engages it's the solenoid .make sure the vehicle is in park, or the e- brake is on. ( with key on)

Check to see if you have any check engine codes posted. You may have a cure or clue posted there. Remove a spark plug wire and stick a screwdriver in the loose plug wire end. Hold the scrwdriver's metal shaft 1/4 inch from a metal part of the engine while someone else tries the starter switch. Do you see a good blue spark? no? Check all fuses in the truck. The engine computer controls the ignition module but sensors control the computer.

it is located on the fuel rail .

Look for a loose or corroded positive battery cable at the battery post - or a loose/corroded battery terminal on the positive cable.

You can call your local parts store and they have specifications such as timing, firing order, plug gap, and a host of information. You also need a timing light. But when I set my timing on a carburetor engine I usually loosen the distributor and slowly turn it in either direction until I can hear the engine run at its best then tighten it back up.

do you have gas in the tank

start by having the battery checked. If the battery is good, then check the starter relay. If this is bad, repalce the starter. Also check battery connections. Sometimes they can seem tight but just aren't. Take them off the battery terminals and clean them. This will also stop your batter from charging.

It could be the keyswitch or the starter could be wired wrong.