Car won't start - please help diagnose!
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 2,161
Likes: 17
Car won't start - please help diagnose!
I came back to my car after dinner (I had been driving the car all day), only to find that it does not crank up.....looks like the battery was dead all of a sudden. So I push start it and drive it home......when I get home, the battery was charged up again (according to the display), but it still would not start (now I though it was the starter). ANy ideas guys?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,188
Likes: 0
From: not speeding just flying low
Re: Car won't start - please help diagnose! (OliverM5)
Did it do anything when you turned the key? If the switch on the clutch pedal is bad or out of adjustment it won't let the starter turn. You could have auto-zone or someone check out your battery. Is it the original battery? I need more details. Check out the battery first and then I would look at the switch on the clutch pedal.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 2,682
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta GA
Re: Car won't start - please help diagnose! (SAXN8R)
Did it do anything when you turned the key? If the switch on the clutch pedal is bad or out of adjustment it won't let the starter turn. You could have auto-zone or someone check out your battery. Is it the original battery? I need more details. Check out the battery first and then I would look at the switch on the clutch pedal.
Fixing a starting problem is a matter of process of elimination.
Start with the battery and battery connections. Then neutral safety switch, or a dirty "chip" on the ignition key. In the old days, you could eliminate the starter and solenoid by putting the car in neutral with the ignition in the "Run" position and jump a screwdriver from the + connection to ground. This bypasses the neutral safety switch and ignition switch. If the starter turns, then it is a switch problem.
Good luck.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 9,900
Likes: 1,842
From: Hot Springs AR
Re: Car won't start - please help diagnose! (OliverM5)
Have you eliminated the battery yet? That'd be my first target, and you can't go by what the voltage is with the car running or with the car off. A bad battery can easily have 12 volts with no load, but doesn't have the oomph to do anything else.
As far as the clutch safety switch is concerned, it's mounted on the firewall behind the clutch pedal. Put an ohm meter on it to find out if it's switching or not.
Hope this helps,
Mike
[Modified by VetteDrmr, 3:44 PM 11/25/2002]
As far as the clutch safety switch is concerned, it's mounted on the firewall behind the clutch pedal. Put an ohm meter on it to find out if it's switching or not.
Hope this helps,
Mike
[Modified by VetteDrmr, 3:44 PM 11/25/2002]
