re: My car won't start...

[maxpie]

Hi Guys,

Well wouldn't you know, its the Holidays, so I just went to the store and the car started ok but when I came out it wouldn't start, wouldn't even turn over, just a quiet clicking sound. About 5 minutes later I tried it again and it started but when I got it home and turned it off it was again completely dead, just that damn clicking sound. I waited 10 minutes but nothing so I feel really lucky to have made it home. I am guessing it is the started as there was no indication of a dying battery, like a slowly turning over and dying battery would likely do.

What do folks think and how much is this likely to cost me? Any ideas welcome. I will wait until Monday before calling CAA for a flatbed to get me to the dealer but thought I'd like some ideas before I get there.

thanks,
Maxine

[wrxR176]

Couple questions

Does the rest of the car have power when you turn the ignition on? ie lights stereo etc

How much voltage does the battery have? Take a multimeter to it. It should be at least 12V with the car off to start it.

It might be something as simple as a bad ground
on the starter. If the car has power and the voltage is good then i would start with unbolting the ground from the starter and sand it down a bit to get a good contact and then put it back together. Then do it where the wire is grounded to the frame as well.

If you have a multimeter then i would check the voltage at the starter as well.

Let us know if it works

[STeveD]

It could be something as simple as loose battery cables. You might just need to tighten the black wire. Tug upwards (from the rubber covered area) to see if you can pull it off.

It could also be a bad cell in the battery. Sometimes works, sometimes shorts out.

How old is your battery?

If you take it by Rob's shop (Cavemanrjc) I'm sure he'll have it diagnosed in no time.

[Cavemanrjc]

First Question, What type of car?

Do the wipers and blower motor work at full speed?
if so suspect starter, have some one hold it in the crank pos and lightly tap starter with club.
did it start ?
next check trigger for power in the crank position.
is the starter being trigged?

dose every thing cut out when you crank it?

if wipers are slow or all goes dead for a sec check cables - both ends. as well as any brackets that the cables bolt to for looseness or corrosion and clean as necessary, and batt voltage greater then 12.6v
load test batt - can bee done with DVOM on 20v dc setting leads on + & - of battery, observe when trying to crank if drops below 9v suspect bad battery

but the clicking sound usually indicates flat spot in starter can also try repeatedly clicking starter click,click,click,... some times it will bump past and go.

2 Quick tests for bad ground.
1) Clip booster cable to batter neg and to starter motor.
2) take test light clip to batt neg with pointy end on block crank eng, if light lights you have insufficient ground and are using the light to complete the circuit

hope this helps

[JoeT]

Hey Rob,

I belive Maxine's car is either a 2003 or 2004 WRX. That makes the OEM battery 6 years old, which is a long time for an OEM "non" maintenance free battery. They do get very very weak at about 4 years.

10 bucks says it's a battery issue. I'd load test the suckah, and I'm willing to bet it'll be showing 10 volts or less under load.

Maxine, if you have a DC (Direct Curret) volt meter, just put it across the battery terminals and measure the voltage while someone is trying to start the car. If it's showing anything below 11 volts, the battery has lost a cell. (very common for an OEM battery that age.)

[Navigator]

Really good chance its the cable to the starter. Unbolt it, sand off any corrosion and put it back on. And as already stated check the other battery connections.

[isopropyl_z24]

Your in Barrie?
PM Rob, he has been know to do house calls

[maxpie]

Guys, It's the holidays so I didn't check back for a few days. Thanks for the ideas. First, the wipers, radio etc. all work very well. Second, the battery is only two years old and the car was starting fine until Saturday afternoon. When I turn the key all I hear is a quick clicking sound. I did check the battery terminals and they were tight and without corrosion. I frankly don't even know where the starter is on my car.

This morning I had CAA come and haul my car up to Barrie Subaru on a flatbed but (sigh) they are closed until tomorrow. I am pretty sure this is a starter problem and with a 7 year old car (2002 WRX) and 315,000 kil. I guess it wouldn't be that surprising that the starter would give me a bit of grief. The biggest grief this morning was the cost of a taxi ride from the dealer to my house.... 35.00.... If I was in the city it would not have been more than half of that... they must start the meter up here when they get the call instead of when they come and get you.... damn.

I appreciate all the advice and I guess I will now learn where that dang starter actually is. BTW, the CAA guy did try to bang on the starter a bit while I tried to start the car but nothing happened. I will certainly ask the dealer to check the connection first, before they talk about replacing it.

Happy New Year guys,
Maxine

PS. I am getting lots more exercise in the past few days... you know, that thing called walking... :banghead:

[maxpie]

Final report... Ivano, Paul and Rob had it right. Turns out it was corrosion on the wire to the starter and was fixed in about 45 minutes or so. I don't know for sure because I just left it there. I want to note too how very helpful the folks at Barrie Subaru were. They sent someone to my house to pick me up so I could deliver the keys to them since I didn't think ahead and didn't leave a set of keys for them; then they gave me a loner car basically because no one had any idea how long it would take to fix it and i was really tired of walking... :-)

Happy New Year,
Maxine