What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby GlenW » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

I have 2001 Honda Prelude. When I go to start it, It clicks and makes a wierd sound like it is trying to start but then does not. It only has 79K miles on it.
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby ia2lyte » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

This sounds like your battery is low.

With a 2001 car, it's possible that the battery needs to be replaced, they typically do after three six years. it's also possible that the alternator is going bad and not charging the battery. You may have left a light on inside the car, and that ran the battery down.

The battery terminals may be dirty, or lose, and not be making good contact.

The starter may be going bad, and drawing too much power from the battery.

If you're trying to fix this yourself before taking it to a qualified mechanic, attempt the following, in order.

Check the battery terminal connections, be sure they're tight.

Loosen the battery terminals, and clean them, using either good emery paper or a wire bush. Clean the posts on the battery the same way. Replace and tighten the terminal connections.

If it isn't a sealed battery, check and fill the water level.

If the car still doesn't start, either charge the battery, or attempt a jump start. If the car starts with a charged battery, take the car and have the battery load tested. This should be inexpensive, most places will do it free to attempt to sell a battery. If the battery is weak, have it replaced.

If the car won't crank with a jump, it's most probably the starter, and the car will must be towed, unless it's a manual transmission that you may push start to a shop for fix.
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby Remims » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

26 years in the car business
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby BadCred » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

battery
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby VrunGert » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

Your starter could of went. Or be sure you have battery power,
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby Lolerfalls » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

possibly the battery is going dead. that happened to us the other day. turns out someone left a light on for two weeks when we parked the car at the bus stop when we went on vacation. the batterey was all wasted.
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby bigbird » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

There may be some things, most likely the battery. Did you check to see it aint in drive ?
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby bigbird » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

sounds like you battery is dead or will not charge up
check alternator,starter and battery
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby XXX » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

battery low, starter bad, worse case could be flywheel has broken tooth and it will not turn it because you're on the broken part.
more probably the battery is bad...
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby ctoiron » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

fire4511 is telling you straight. If you do check your battery level and it's low, make sure to fill it with distilled water and not tap water. If it starts with jumper cables that tells you lots. A simple voltmeter could telll you if the battery is to get a charge from the alternator. Shorting battery plates can because problems throughout a jump start so swapping out the battery is a logical solution. If you do measure the voltage with a meter, it should read battery voltage around twelve volts on a charged battery and anywhere from 13 to 14 volts when the engine is running. The higher voltage is the alternator trying to charge the battery.

The clicking sound comes from a start relay that does not have enough voltage to stay engaged. It just sits there and clicks till the voltage drops to a point it will not click. clearly, it will not have enough power to turn the starter. If the starter was bad, you would not have the clicking nose from the relay till the starter sapped enough power from the battery to produce that relay to click.
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby JerryHu » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

maybe you need a new starter or a altenator.
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What are all the possibilites of why my car will not start?

Postby BryanTbone » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:57 am

it can be your battery or your starter. in that case a simple why to get it started again will be to get a metallic tool and tap the starter, if it's the starter that should work, but if that does work it means that it does not work any more and will must be replaced.
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