Clicking Sound When Trying To Start

[Amaaru]

Hey everyone,

Just got home and then tried to start the car to give a friend a lift and it just started clicking loudly and wouldnt start!!

My friend says hes had that happen on cold mornings or nights (its quite cold outside atm) and that its then been fine during the day. After reading around a bit I found that that sounds like it could be a problem with the brushes in the starter motor. However, Ill have to try it tomorrow during the day to find that out.

My dad, who is a retired electronics engineer, suspects the battery is dead or close to it. He says the clicking is the starter motor solenoid chattering. He suspects it is this because when trying to start the car, it dimmed the headlights and dashboard lights.

For the past week or 2, I noticed the car was a lil more sluggish when starting. E.g. Id have to turn the key for slightly longer before it started. Also, the last couple times I started it, the engine also seemed a lil rough for maybe 3-4 seconds before revving up a bit then returning to normal.

Ive only had the car just over a month

Any extra opinions on what it may be?

Going to try jump starting it tomorrow, woulda done it now, but only just realised the battery is pretty much in the boot?!

Thanks in advance

[DC33VN]

i got the same problem with my camry its either ur batt or starter motor 100%

[jrm]

Clicking is battery dead, jump start it or try a new battery.

Moving on from that - why's the battery dead? Could just be a crap battery (the one I got with my car was absolute rubbish), or your alternator is not charging it properly. Once you get it going with a new battery, you'll want to see what sort of voltage you're getting to the battery when the car is started. If you're seeing 14.4V or so, alternator should be charging okay, if it's lower - alternator is likely dead or not charging adequately.

[-Stokesy-]

sounds like a dead battery to me

[PM-R33]

Before you fork out for another battery, check the earth on the battery where it attaches to the body of the car in the boot. Common thing on batteries is when the car is really cold they don't get a good earth if it is dodgy. When it warms up everything expands slightly and the earth gets better. Worth a shot, have had it happen to me before.

Edited October 16, 2009 by PM-R33

[Turbz RB-25]

It's the battery mate, get a jumper cable and get someone to help you out, or buy a new battery.

Your alternator could be f#$ked as it might not be charging the battery whilst driving.

[DRD-00F]

Yerp, the noise isn't so much a dead anything, it's more a, not getting enough power thing. Causes COULD be a dead or flat battery, but you could also just have shit connections on your earth or positive.

I had to buy new jumper cables cause I couldn't get a good enough connection on my 1000CCA battery to jump my daily!

Check these things first, also, check the voltage on the battery, it should rest at ~13V and charge at 14.2V (when the car is running) if I remember correctly. Someone can feel free to dispute those numbers.

[payback21]

Yer i would of thought alternator or bat. Do a test and get it started, then disconnect the positive battery lead and see if it still runs. If it doesnt and it dies, The alternator is stuffed and isnt charging. If it still runs, it aint the alt and it is your battery or bad terminal connection to the battery. If battery is ok on a volt test, starters solenoid or starter is gone.

[Ultimategtr]

Before you fork out for a new battery - follow PM's advice - also clean terminals and check acid level. Wouldnt hurt to empty it out, flush it through with some warm tap water then refill with DISTILLED water and give it a charge overnight.

I had a similar issue where i found out my battery was completely empty - I cleaned her up and refilled with D/water and it worked fine for over a year before I replaced it.

[PM-R33]

Mine never used to never start on cold mornings or if it was parked at work all day. You could just hear the starter motor solenoid click and then all the electrics would die. Couldn't fingure out what was causing it, jump starting it worked fine, the battery was showing fine charge on the test machine we had at work from Century and after 2 weeks of f**king around it was the earth in the boot. While trying to start it i would get a mate to push down on the earth in the boot and hey presto it would start. It isn't the best earth and over the years gets worse. I now run two earths off the battery in the boot and have never had the same problem since.

Edited October 16, 2009 by PM-R33

[rtune]

Yeah battery.

First stage: slow cranking but doesn't fire (computers need juice as well)

Second stage: fast clicking like a machine gun, but starter doesn't turn over

Third stage: single click