This has occurred twice and two mechanics claim that there is nothing wrong with my car.
The first time my SO had the car, taking his cousin from Italy to lunch. He turned the car off and shortly afterward attempted to start the car again. As he turned the key in the ignition all he got was a click. It sounded as if this click was in the engine. All systems were working (the radio, air conditioning, etc) but the car would not start up. Being a man (i.e. calm, cool and collected) :rolleyes:, he figured he’d go have lunch and then deal with it. Two hours later he returned and it started up with no problems. This was a few months ago.
In the interim, I’ve recently needed to replace my battery. It was totally dead and once I turned the car off I would need someone to give me a jump; it wouldn’t hold a charge at all. I took it to a local establishment and they attached a hand held gadget with a gauge to the battery and it apparently was DEEEEAAAADDDD.
Now, a week later, I stopped at a 7-11 on the way home from work and when I returned the same exact thing happened to me. Just a “click”. Tried several times before I contemplated calling triple A and asking them to release he to the wild, but I called my husband instead and he rescued me. Jumped the battery and I was off and running. The next morning, everything was fine.
This morning our local mechanic said we found nothing wrong. Seeking a second opinion I then brought it back to the mechanic who replaced the battery. Nothing. NOTHING.
What gives? I’m deathly afraid that I might get stuck somewhere with a dead cell phone, no jumper cables and no other life forms. I, on occasion, need to travel to deserted areas. Diagnostics, anyone?
Come to think of it - I’m not sure if this has anything to do with this but it is worth a shot - prior to all of this my key got stuck in the ignition. That needed to be replaced. Could that have something to do with it?
If it’s a loud, strong click–almost a clunk–from the engine compartment, it’s the starter. Next time it happens, open the hood and have one person listen while the other turns the key to “start.” If you can verify that the click/clunk is in the engine area (actually the starter itself), you’re hearing the starter solenoid engage–but the starter not turning. Replace the starter.
If it’s a Ford product with a separate solenoid, the click may be traced to this part, mounted on the inner fenderwell. It’s a fist-sized gizmo with battery-type cables connected to it. If it’s clicking, it could be the solenoid, the starter, or a poor connection. Testing time.
If it’s a somewhat faint click, it’s also testing time. Could be the ignition switch, the neutral safety switch (automatic trans) or clutch safety switch (manual trans), the starter, or wiring connections between these items.
It’s unlikely it’s related to the repair you mentioned.
Intermittent problems like this are a real pain. It’s usually impossible to diagnose them without catching them in the act, and of course they don’t act up when they know there’s a mechanic watching. This type of thing tends to get worse with time, which increases the chance of getting a definite diagnosis. It unfortunately also increases the chance of leaving you stranded, but usually it takes quite a while before that point is reached.
I had a similar problem - turned out that the solenoid was worn - the coil would be energized, but the battery contacts were worn to the point that sometimes they would connect, sometimes not.
good luck - car electrical bugs are nasty - ask around for someone who is a wiz with the stuff - many mechanics don’t want to deal with the diagnosis phase.
Go to Walmart or Sears and get one of those emergency batteries. They are batteries sealed into a tough plastic housing with a carrying handle, atttached jumper cables atttached, and a built in charger. Mine has a light that indicates its state of chrge, and two cigarette lighter jacks.
One of these saved me a few times when my battery was going… and when I left my lights on. :smack:
Make, model, transmission type and year, please? Gary T raises some pretty intriguing possibilities, but having this specific information might aid the troubleshooting process.
As a note - some models of Toyota seem to be especially sensitive to low voltages, and will often do this if the battery gets a bit low in voltage. Replacing the starter doesn’t even help.
Something like this happened to my wife’s car a few months ago (of course, the one day when I borrowed it). The headlights would come on, radio worked, but the damn thing wouldn’t turn over; it wouldn’t even try. Turns out the battery cables were just corroded enough that not enough juice (amps?) was getting to the starter. Make sure you’ve got good contact between battery cables and battery. Wiggle them and try again (several times). Cheap thing to check first.
On that note… My fathers Tahoe had a similar problem. Every once in a while, you’d go to start it and get nothing. If you kept trying, you’d kill the battery REAL fast. So you’d have to wait like 10 mins or so and try it again. That can indicate a dead spot on the starter. That is, when the starter “lands” on that spot, it won’t start again. A few tricks that may work are to use a crowbar or something to turn the starter a litte, or keep the car in gear and push it a little (although I would imagine the starter would have to be engaged for that to work). Anyways, my suggestion would be a new starter. OR… go to a battery store and have them check your electrical system. Could be a dead cell in the battery (which causes intermintent starting problems) or a faulty alternator.
This sounds similar to a problem one of my father’s cars had. You couldn’t start the car if the engine was hot. The starter wasn’t properly protected from the exhaust, and when hot it wouldn’t turn. The solution was to wait for everything to cool down a bit, then it started fine.
I would test this by trying to start the car immediately after getting to work or home (assuming you have a sizable commute), and see if it cranks. There may be a pattern here you can tell your mechanic.
Here’s the rule I always use: I’m gonna feel real stupid if:
In other words, if you change trhe starter and find out the battery cables were just loose, you’d feel really stupid.
It is the third law of perversity of the universe that the repair that finally repairs the problem is the repair you took for granted was OK. I’d check cables, connections, battery, starter in that order. The heavy cables (both power AND ground) that go to the starter/engine can be loose and cause intermittent opens. The battery could have a low cell, the terminals corroded (on GM vehicles with the side terminals this can be hard to spot) or the starter hosed. That’s the order of repairs from cheapest to most expensive, try the cheap first.
Here’s another vote for the starter solenoid. There may also be a starter relay in the system that might give similar symptoms. Dirty battery cable connections can also cause this, but I’ve usually had to clean the connections to get the car running again.
From your description, I abstract the following observation:
It only does the “click” thing and refuses to start when it’s been recently driven.
This makes it relatively unlikely that it is a battery problem, or a connection problem whereby a poor connection is interfering with the amps getting to the starter appropriately. The car that requires the most juice to turn over and start is the cold-engine car that’s been sitting overnight or all day in the parking lot, not the one you come back out to after being in the 7-11.
I suspect that your starter has some shim plates that let the starter’s gears engage with the engine crankshaft’s gears with just the right amount of clearance and free play. (If not, you can still insert some there). If your starter is not shimmed properly and is therefore jammed a bit tightly against the crankshaft, the heat of the warm recently-used engine can make things expand and fit just a bit tighter, and when you turn the key and the starter motor decides to turn it goes “clunk” instead. You wait a little while, engine cools a bit, you try it again, and vroom.
If it does turn out to be heat-related (re: Cheesesteak’s and ** AHunter3**'s comments), you may be able to ward off some future problems by putting a heat shield around the starter. It’s been awhile since I got the one for our 'Stang, so I can’t remember the cost anymore, but that heat shield made the difference between having to get a new starter every two-three months and having them last their normal lifespan. Again, this will only help if the root of the problem is heat effecting the starter. If it’s heat nudging some other stuff out of whack just enough to cause problems, or heat turns out to not be involved at all, a shield won’t do a bit of good.
