I've got a problem. Car will not start. All I hear is a single "Click". Tried jumping it to no avail. Sat there for about 5min to try and charge it, no go. The problem happened this morning a few times...on a whim I put in the actual key and the car started. After that, it worked the entire afternoon around town. I worked on installing a rack this afternoon and thus had the doors opened for about 45min (dome lights on).

Anyway, when I have battery issues I at least hear the engine trying to crank a few times (on my other cars). This time it's different. Any ideas?

 

No expert here but it sounds like a bad connection somewhere...if it were me the first place I'd check is the battery terminals, make sure everything's clean and tight. The fact that it starts with the key (as opposed to the push-button start, I presume) could be coincidence or a problem with that mechanism itself.

 

Thanks. I should add that I tried it with the key again tonight and it was a no go, so I think it was just a coincedence.

I did play with the terminals just now, I was going to take the battery out to get it checked but I couldn't get it out in the dark. Parts store closes in 15min so I will try tomorrow.

Any other ideas? Thanks.

 

Bad ground at the battery? That's the exact symptom I had with a Corolla when the ground was lose.

 

i looked at it again, no issues with the ground. I also just had Kragen check my battery out...no issues. Looking more like the starter...

 

Sounds like the starter.Its not hard to replace you just have to take the undertray off and it right there.

 

any pictures or links that you can show me so I can be sure what to take off and bring over there? Thanks!

 

Did you do any recent work to it?

 

Yeah I just had tires replaced on Friday

 

update: the car will sometimes start if i have the key in the ignition and the navigation screen up. weird. how can anyone diagnose this type of thing? Is it going to require teh dealer to look at it?

 

I'm not sure where the starter is on this car, somebody earlier said it was behind the skid plate underneath the engine? Easy way to see if the starter is going bad: Lightly hit (tap) the starter with a wrench or something while someone is turning the key to start the car, if it starts just fine the starter needs to be replaced. I did this on my last car, but the starter was easier to access.

Might be a PITA though, rather than just taking it in to somebody.

 

i have a service manual so now i know where it is and how to take it out...it should be easy, but we'll see. Autozone claims to be able to check if starter is working while it is on the car, so i might try that out since i can get this to start every once in a while.

 

If you hear a click, try turning on your headlights. If they go waaaay dim when you try starting the car, or are dim to start with, then it's the battery. That would be the first step...starters are rare to fail on a modern car.

 

yeah, battery is not the culprit. I put a new one in. The old one was fine as well but I just got a new one since I had it out anyway...

 

Starter solinoid!