I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Vehicle not starting
Hi, looking for some advice on my vehicle not starting.
A few days ago when I tried to start the car I was getting a rapid clicking noise. Car eventually started after multiple attempts and I drove it around 25 miles as I thought the battery might of been low. Tried starting the car after the drive and was getting the same rapid clicking noise when starting but the car would still start after a couple attempts. Checked the voltage of the battery and it was around 12.6 Volts.
Fast forward a couple days and the car will not start at all now but instead of the clicking noise the car will now crank but just not start. The voltage was reading about 12.4 Volts this time and I tired jump starting the car with a battery pack and no luck.
I tired checking the wiper speed and indicator speed with and without the jump pack connected to see if this increased in speed or not however there was no difference. Lastly I turned the lights on the car and tried starting however they only dimmed when I put the radio on and blowers on full.
Is this just a case of a new battery is needed or is it likely to be something else? I did initially think it was maybe relating to the starter motor when it was just clicking but the fact it’s cranking now leads me to think it’s not that.
This is not battery related from the sound of it.
The rapid clicking sounds like a failing relay to me, quite possibly fuel pump or injector(main) relay.
Fuel pump relay is a yellow one marked 056700-6381 under the dash; I would start by testing that to see if power is being delivered to the fuel pump ie the load side of the relay is showing 12 volts.
The Injector relay is marked B6S8 I think and sits in the fusebox under the bonnet.
Okay I will defiantly have a look at that. I did notice when I start the ignition I don’t hear any pump in the background so that might be a sign it is related to that potentially.
I think it’s your battery that’s causing your non starting. Beg, buy or borrow a smart battery charger (like Optimate) and charge your battery for a couple of days. If it is knackered the various lights on the charger will tell you so. If it turns out to be something else charging the battery can only be helpful anyway.
Good luck
Have you any breakdown cover?..I had something similar and AA quickly diagnosed a non healthy battery and as he carried spares I quickly purchased a new one and a trickle charger!
Just re-read the first post. If the starter spins at the correct speed, even intermittently, there will be no battery charge issue. If there is a clicking and no spin that could be a battery issue but if it were, would not be intermittent. Have you checked the battery connections, especially the positive terminal? If they are good and tight with no corrosion, etc, check the negative to body connection and the body to PPF(power plant frame) bolt on connection.
Do you have an immobiliser fitted? These are now typically past their sell by date and can give starting and indeed running issues. We had both issues with the old Foxguard on our 1991 Eunos, now removed.
So the car is cranking so the starter is clearly working and the connections at the battery seem all good. Going back to your first point I did think it could be the fuel pump relay however I got a replacement and still nothing. You still can’t hear the fuel pump when the ignition is on. I tried putting a paper clip in the connections as I seen a video on YouTube and the when I started the ignition you can here the fuel pump so a bit confused as to how the relay does not fix this issue. There is no alarms/immobilisers on the car. I am contemplating it might be a fuel pump as it did occur the second time after I had filled the car up with fuel if that has any correlation (Only ever put E5 in the car).