C5 Starter One click and then nothing
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 29
Likes: 1
C5 Starter One click and then nothing
My c5 starter would just click one time and then do nothing so I replaced the starter, the car worked fine for a week after then started doing the same thing. I took the headers out again to take a look since I figured one of the wires to the starter broke but everything seemed ok. One of the wires I re-spliced back together since I wasn't sure if it still had a good connection but made no difference. I do not know what else to look for as I am not very good at anything electronic related. This is my last resort or I will have to take it to the shop, hoping it is something simple.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,473
Likes: 691
From: West Virginia
Have you checked the battery, and checked that the battery terminal connections are clean? Your symptoms sound like they could be battery related. You need to check the voltage with an external meter. Voltage should be 12.6V across the battery terminals. Anything less, and you may get relay clicking, one attempt at crank, then nothing, etc.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,862
Likes: 595
From: Prescott, Arizona
Yes, don't be surprised if the problem is battery or ground related. Test the battery. Assuming the battery is a side terminal type, make sure you cannot move the battery cables when the side terminal bolts are at 11 foot pounds. Some batteries have been manufactured with shallow side terminal holes- the cables don't make good contact even when the bolt is torqued to 11 foot pounds.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,398
Likes: 769
From: jefferson texas
Have you checked the battery, and checked that the battery terminal connections are clean? Your symptoms sound like they could be battery related. You need to check the voltage with an external meter. Voltage should be 12.6V across the battery terminals. Anything less, and you may get relay clicking, one attempt at crank, then nothing, etc.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 819
Likes: 645
From: Beautiful Springboro, OH
2020 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Just last week, my car had the same symptom of the click, but nothing; no interior lights, no attempt to start, no nothing.
I keep the battery on a tender, so I was very concerned. I went to disconnect the battery to try and "reset" the system.
I found that the battery cable had loosened just enough that simply moving the socket wrench on the cable made the lights all come back on! Ran over and tried the ignition- worked perfectly. I tightened down that cable and have had zero issues since.
The gremlin in my case was a loosened battery cable that I would have sworn was tight, so definitely give that connection a check before buying any more parts. Best of luck!
I keep the battery on a tender, so I was very concerned. I went to disconnect the battery to try and "reset" the system.
I found that the battery cable had loosened just enough that simply moving the socket wrench on the cable made the lights all come back on! Ran over and tried the ignition- worked perfectly. I tightened down that cable and have had zero issues since.
The gremlin in my case was a loosened battery cable that I would have sworn was tight, so definitely give that connection a check before buying any more parts. Best of luck!
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,141
Likes: 802
From: Espanola New Mexico
In my 14 years of owning my 1997, I have over the years had the battery cables come loose a handful of times. The battery is held down and every time I had made sure the cables were nice and tight, I still can't explain how the cables come loose, except that maybe temperature changes cause this to happen.
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