So for the past ~two weeks I’ve dealt with the clamp that goes around my negative post had been slipping off of the post. Today before work(seems to be only when you have somewhere to be) I went to crank my car, to hear a single click but no start.
Now, the lights come on, AC goes full blast, and the headlights and radio work. I jumped the battery from my wife’s car with no luck.
Based on this, could you give me some ideas/options/advice on how or what to fix/check? I have minimal tools and virtually no mechanical knowledge.
Any and all help is appreciated. Even if it’s just a “damn. That sucks.”
I’m going to guess the battery. It’s also the easiest place to start investigating. Everything else can still come on even if it doesn’t have enough power to start the car.
How long are you leaving your jumper cables attached before trying to start it? Jumping can take at least a few minutes to build up enough charge.
How old is the battery? There’s usually a month/year of manufacture sticker on it. If it’s 5+ years old, there’s a good chance it’s due for replacement.
Is the negative post connection tight? There isn’t any good reason the cable should be slipping off the post. Loose connection could also cause the car not to start.
I’d like to add that batteries might only last 3 years if you live in a cold climate.
I live on the back of the devil’s nuts in SC, USA.
While jumping in left it for around five minutes and revved the wife’s car twice during that. The same symptoms persisted.
I’m not sure about the actual age of the battery but I don’t believe it’s more than 5 years yet.
I’m almost positive the contact is loose. My solution after it had been slipping off was to push it back down the post with a hard rubber keychain I have. I’m hoping that’s it and I just need to tighten it as that’s the cheapest fix.
Take both the battery terminals off, if there are crusty white or blue gunk on them you can use a little vinegar to clean it off. Clean the contacting parts of both terminals and where they connect to the battery with a wire brush till the metal looks at least vaguely shiny. Put the terminals back on and tighten them down with a wrench, if its an american car its usually a 1/2" if its an import its almost certainly a 10mm. If it doesn’t work after that try jumping it again, if it still doesn’t work its probably the starter or starter solenoid. You can try tapping on the starter solenoid with a hammer to unstick it as a temporary fix to get you going, but if you have to do that then it needs replaced sooner rather than later anyways.
looks at username …sure…
The battery needs to be able to deliver 100+ amps in an instant.
A battery can fail in a manner where it’s not longer jumpable, cannot deliver the necessary amperage to start the motor, but still run accessory systems.
I would check the battery’s voltage with a multimeter.
I doubt this is a loose terminal connection. If the click you’ve described is coming from the engine compartment, that’s the starter relay switching. Wouldn’t be able to do that if there weren’t a complete battery circuit.
In some cars ( don’t know if it applies to all with modern systems) you can have enough amps in the battery to move the starter relay, making the clicking sound, but not enough to fully engage or turn the starter. Also in my past experience I had one car (VW Beetle) where over long driving the heat would cause the replay to get “gummy”, so it would stick enough to prevent it from moving. An old trick there was to short the terminals to free it. I wouldn’t recommend that on a new car though, too many electronics that can get damaged.
I would investigate the battery and its connections first. Make sure it’s a good battery still, that everything from the terminals to the starter AND alternator are good. An alternator charging problem can lead to a battery that is slowly not getting a full charge and eventually dying, even if it’s not old. But until you get it to turn over, it’s one of these parts of the starting system, it’s not too complex.
It’s that clamp again (or the other one). Take them off, clean the terminals good, put them on again.
When starting, leave all the lights and the AC off for the first minute.
Ok. I had made sure that the clamp was fully down on the post but I couldn’t check to see if it was snug. I’m hoping it’s just a matter of tightening the contacts since that’s the cheapest option.
Make sure your negative actually has good contact. For a time the jumper then goes from the inside of my fender to battery was bad and my truck would randomly die and wiggling that would get it to start again until I replaced the wire end. That said yiu probably needto replace the ends.
IIRC I had it replaced a few years ago due to corrosion.
I’m hoping that it’s just a matter of needing to tighten the contact around post since that’ll just cost me some of my time.
Even if you have to replace the connector, its a five dollar part and 2 bolts, if your comfortable tightening it, replacing it isn’t much more. Hopefully tightening it gets it.
Have you tightened the clamp?
Is there anything on the battery post? Do you see any build up on battery post?
How old is the battery?
Not yet, had to wake up the wife to give me a ride into work(we work at the same place I just have an earlier shift) but once I get off I’ll be doing that first.
During the jump I let it sit for about 5 minutes and revved the wife’s car twice.
I don’t think the battery is older than 5 years. But I could be wrong, as I didn’t check.
To clarify, when you jumped the car the negative battery cable was connected and the car would not start.
Trace the battery cables and make sure they are both cables are properly attached at both ends.
Batteries last 3-5 years.
For the jump the pos and neg were connected on the good battery and the pos was connected but the neg was attached to a bolt on the “bad” battery, as per this video: https://youtu.be/iI1o2hNy2hE
Sorry if I am not being clear. I am talking about the cables that lead from your battery to your car, not the jumper cables.
Your positive cable is red and connects your battery to your starter motor and other electrical equipment.
Your negative cable is black and it connects you battery to a ground point on your car’s engine or chassis.
I assummed in your original post that you were asking about the battery connection to your car.
If you are asking about getting the jumper connections to stay attached that is just a matter of getting them to clamp on.
With power and no start (confirmed by that other car connected in parallell, presuming that you had good connection), I would think it’s the starter itself, or something as simple as a fuse.
That click you hear, where does it come from? Can it be the starter relay?
Grab a voltmeter and measure for the starter - Does it get power when someone else turns the key?
Obligatory: I’m not a mechanic. But I drove a 1995 car until March this year, and I did most of the maintenance and fixes on it myself. And I troubleshoot other electromechanical contraptions for a living.
Feel like traveling to the middle of no where woods of SC, USA?
If you’re paying, sure.
NB: I don’t cross the Atlantic on economy class. I’m sure your local Diesel denizen is cheaper.
Damn. I left my platinum visa in my other pants.
