update - starter just clicks - autozone says bat alt OK

[V6Bob]

A couple of times my car hasn't started. Just a rapid clicking sound while the guages jerk around. Charged the battery and the problem disappeared.

Autozone tested and says the original battery (4 years old) and the alternator are fine.

Anyone been there, done that?

[ August 24, 2004, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: V6Bob ]

[brandonppr]

Sounds Like it maybe a loose connection somewhere.

[Rob Bell]

Also check for corrosion on the battery terminals, I had that problem once on a previous car. There was all this green crap on the terminals. When I cleaned it off, everything was fine. Also, 4 years is getting old for a battery anyway.

[BethAnn]

I vote for corrosion too. Make sure your positive cable is good, sometimes the corrosion can eat into it and it isn't noticeable unless you really look. It caused me problems too.

[chas]

starter could be bad as well. the clicking is either relay to turn the starter over the solenoid on the starter with engages the starter to the flywheel.

the relay to the starter could be bad but that's fairly unlikely. try swapping the a/c and the starter relay (they should be same amps).

[Pastor Larry Roques]

Check that blasted wiring between the battery and the starter and alternator. I just got through changing out two batteries and two alternators a couple of weeks ago....like to drove me nuts. I finally put the car in the shop and they found that the wire between the alternator and the battery was totally fried. Changed it and everythings hunky dory!
[img]graemlins/banana.gif[/img]

[jmihalchik98]

bad battery id say , check terminals like stated could be bad starter solenoid.

[Ian]

go under the car with a screwdriver, w/ a rubber handle, and touch the terminals on teh starter together with the car OUT OF GEAR! if it cranks the engine, the starter is OK and the wiring is bad.

im gonna give it a 90% chance that it will not crank the engine, and the starter is bad.

[F1GT]

It's the battery, sounds like it's not holding charge like it used to. Change your battery and you should be ok. This happened to me a couple of times on my still original battery. First was leaving the phone charge plugged in for 10-15 minutes with the car off, which never happened b4. Second time just happened today. Was cleaning my car with the CD player on, played only 3 songs and then my car couldn't start. Just rapid clicking like yours. So I had to crack out the portable jumper.
I'm going to just go ahead and change the battery anyways, it's 5 1/2 yrs old and seems like it's not holding much charge anymore. When it was new I can play a CD for over half an hour and it was still full, that's the difference I see! Looks like you and me both need to replace our batteries, before we get stuck and have to have our cars jumped again! ;)

[zlexiss]

Bad connection to battery. That rubber sleeve they put over the terminals has this gasket-like ring on the face that goes up to the terminal, and I think it's too thick to give really good contact.

The gauges flipping back and forth are the car getting full voltage under no load, then dropping to zero as the solenoid engages and floods the little bit of electrical contact you have.

I cut the gasket-thing off the face of my battery cables, used a brass bristled brush to scrub corrosion from the leads and battery terminals, then smeared some dielectric grease on the terminal face before tightening the leads back on, to prevent future corrosion.

-Jeff

[Razzer]

Change the battery, and clean off the corrosion. Only cost you like 60$ for a decent battery and provides 3-5 years of trouble free service.

[viper98885]

Could also be that the starter solenoid is drawing too much amperage from the battery. If that is the case, you need a new starter.

[V6Bob]

Status report

Thanks for everyone's good suggestions.

Most of the wires are unaccessible to check for corrosion. The ones I could check (on alternator - to battery, small chassis ground) looked brand shiny new. Not surprising since I live in Denver, garage the car, and have a winter beater.

The battery connections were tight. There was a small amount of corrosion on on the positive conection which I removed with water/baking soda/wire brush. That may have been the problem.

This only happened a couple of times after the car had been sitting for a few days. Charging the battery fixed it. That leads me to suspect the battery over the starter/solenoid. Zlexiss point about the rubber gasket on the battery connections is a good one. I could easily see how a small amount of damage or corrosion deposit could really foul things up. If it had happened shortly after I had reconnected them for some reason I would suspect that. Mine looked perfect and I think they're not a problem.

I'll see if it happens again. If it does, or if I simply get nervous, I'll assume Autozone's battery tester is not perfect and get a new one.

Thanks again.

[saved1]

Hey friends, here is a tip that bailed me out a couple of times when my car did the clickity click, I poured about 1/2 a can of coca cola over the terminals, waited a couple of minutes, and presto, the car started. The acid in the soda will clean some of the green corrision off and allow the juice to flow [img]smile.gif[/img]

[V6Bob]

Update - 3 weeks later the problem has not recurred. Looks like it was the dirty battery connection.