car won't start need advice (educated)

I have been driving my car as normal, and then the other day I went to start it but no luck ( I can hear the starter engage) but it won’t turn over. The altenator was replaced just a couple months ago and the car was running fine. -any suggestions???

Re: car won’t start need advice (educated)

Originally posted by tigersreign
I have been driving my car as normal, and then the other day I went to start it but no luck ( I can hear the starter engage) but it won’t turn over. The altenator was replaced just a couple months ago and the car was running fine. -any suggestions???

:search:

I’m pretty sure if you run a search for “car won’t start” you’ll have a half a million posts regarding this subject in the last month.
Check you main fuel relay. It’s the usual suspect.

check for spark then check for compression. if that does not help you then there other things to check. just go down the list of things that you know you need in order for a car to start…:getsome: :getsome:

Re: car won’t start need advice (educated)

Originally posted by tigersreign
I have been driving my car as normal, and then the other day I went to start it but no luck ( I can hear the starter engage) but it won’t turn over. The altenator was replaced just a couple months ago and the car was running fine. -any suggestions???

check your main fuel relay. was it a hot day when it happened? if you wait will it turn over?

Might want to check your battery too, if it’s not turning over. Wouldn’t hurt to check.

Check All your relays and fuses. Take a spark plug wire out and place it close to a ground to see if it sparks. All should spark, but you know your ignition is getting power if one does. If you do get some response after trying many starts, it could be a fuel problem. listen when the key is turned on if the fuel pump is running. If you want to get it started, turn the idling up a bit( or where you can rev the gas in the engine. You might be able to get it started if its having trouble getting fuel to the injectors.

Ok to make things more clear – is it cranking but not firing up? Or is it not even cranking and you just hear a “click” or a “whir” from the starter?

If you say you can hear the start pinion gear spinning, but no engine crank, then the first spot to look is the starter itself. You most likely have a shot solenoid. Starters are faily cheap to replace. 50 bucks maybe…easy install too.

My car has the same problem…Only when its hot outside. Usually i take the key out and put it back in. Itakes about 3 - 4 times to get the car start up. If it still dosn’t work, get out of the car and wait about 5-10 min before starting. Also tried to park somewhere with a shade like underneath a tree.

Originally posted by pw422c
My car has the same problem…Only when its hot outside. Usually i take the key out and put it back in. Itakes about 3 - 4 times to get the car start up. If it still dosn’t work, get out of the car and wait about 5-10 min before starting. Also tried to park somewhere with a shade like underneath a tree.

you definitely need to check your main fuel relay. just replaced mine, takes like 10 minutes to replace.

read here for more info on how to test it, etc… but your problem is most like the MFR for sure…

The symptoms that were explained says that you can hear that starter pinion gear engage, so its spinning, but not turning over. So that tells me that the pinion gear is not making contact with the flywheel. I still say its the starter itself, when main fuel relays go out, the car will crank but will not start right??

Originally posted by marcus219
The symptoms that were explained says that you can hear that starter pinion gear engage, so its spinning, but not turning over. So that tells me that the pinion gear is not making contact with the flywheel. I still say its the starter itself, when main fuel relays go out, the car will crank but will not start right??

um… the original poster has not replied even once. i was replying directly to pw422c, that’s why I quoted him.

So just to sum things up (taking all possible symptoms into consideration)

If it’s cranking, but not firing up – Main Fuel Relay, Coil, or Igniter

If you can hear the starter spinning, but the engine doesn’t crank – starter.

And if all you hear is a “click”. Low battery/bad starter connection/bad solenoid.