Thread: car start problem

dont know if i will find a answear but figured i would try.

my car 3.8 supercharged. wont start. the doors unlock remotely and there is lights and everything but it try and turn it over and it will almost start then just wont do it then i just get clicking. but if i jump the car it turns over right away. and i can turn it off and turn it back on. anyone know where i should start looking to fix this problem? or ask me questions about it to help get more info to help fix this problem

so the battery would have enough juice to power the stereo and the lights but just not enough to turn the car over? it was a fairly new battery. i thought it was a the amp was taking juice so i disconnected it but its still doing it even after that. the battery terminals are all clean.

Would say your battery also. Your not getting enough current to your starter to fully engage it to start.

Are the terminals tight?

i will check to see if there tight. i dont know much about battery stuff it actually kinda scares me. the guy i got the car off used it for car audio shows and it has these other bolt sorta things on the terminals for the amp wires and all that. but yea as far as testing to see if there all tight im scared to put a socket wrench on the terminals but is that silly? nothing gonna happen? dont wana get shocked but cant afford to bring it in for repair right now.

ok thanks alot guys. i will look into it. always love how fast you guys reply to stuff

yep was the battery. got it tested and it was bad. got new battery and i am happy again. is it possible that a bad battery can effect the way a car drives? i swear its driving better since i changed the battery over.

so i got new battery and all that. i left the car sitting for a couple days and the battery is dead again. what else could be causing this problem? it has been sitting in the cold and the battery was a used one i purchased. could it just be that the car has been sitting in the cold for too long and it just needs a jump? i am hoping this is the situation but i fear it might be something else.

wen i got the new battery the car was driving great and then over time it seemed to loose power wen i gave it gas compared to wen i got the new battery (dont know why a car battery would do that but it honestly seemed that way)

Did u leave any lights on last time u used it? Maybe bad alternator that its not keeping the battery charged. Otherwise bad battery or u have something sucking power when ur not using to have power loss.

yea i been thinking something is sucking power. i just dont know enough about electronics to figure that out. was looking at vids on it but its over my head. got no cash to bring it in also so thinking it might just have to sit over winter and that sucks its my only car.

i no u said your scared to fool with the battery, but the alternator could be the problem. one way to check the alternator w/o taking it to the shop is a) take it to autozone or o'reilys they will check the batt and alt for free with it in the car. Or you can start the car and disconnect the battery, if the car runs, the alt is good if it looses power or dies the alt is bad.

yea i fine with messing with the battery now haha that went nice and easy . but i cant get the car up and running to bring it to a place to even get it checked outl cant afford a tow also. i will do some reading and see if i can figure out something.

the cold shouldnt be a issue with it starting up at all? like i went to jump it and it was struggling like it was gonna turn over it just never did.

get yourself a voltmeter from autozone.cant be more than 15$ for a cheapie switch it over to volts.Then take the voltmeter terminal ends and touch red to positive and black to negative.while the car is running check to see if you have more that 13.50volts going to the battery.its hard to get a connection on side post if you have them clean the bolts with sandpaper first to ensure a good connection.you can also use that volt meter to check for a draw(power useage) while the key is off.shouldnt drop more than half a volt(from 12volts with key off) within half an hour.are amps still hooked up in the car?

i found that one of the bolts for the battery was pretty stripped so i thinking it wasnt sitting right. i replaced that and i ended up removing my aftermarket stereo and since then i have not had problems. just got a new fuse for my amp so i gonna hook the stereo up again and will see if it comes back. hopefully not. i hope its all solved now lol. but thanks for the information i need a voltmeter for sure

do you have a sidepost battery?if it is you will have to get a longer bolt for the positive side if your putting the power cable right to the battery. those little 8mm bolts are just long enough to get started without anything stuffed behind the cable.i think the bolt size is a 10x1.5