intermittent click when trying to start
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 1:39 pm
I don't know if anyone is still watching these boards and interacting, but I figured I would give it a try anyway. I'm having trouble with my car starting consistently.
The behavior is changing. At first when I would turn the key I would get a click click click and then sometimes it would catch, turn over and start... now I get one click and completely lose power to the entire car.. almost like the battery is disconnected. No interior lights, no door locks, no chimes - nothing. When I get it running again (as you'll see below by manually activating the start relay) my fuel stats are all reset for fuel used etc.. so it's like it was completely disconnected from battery.
I know that it is not the starter and I know it's not the battery (checked and just replaced battery - still have issue) .. I know a lot of threads say this is due to a weak battery but I've had my entire charging system checked... alternator is charging (and was replaced only last summer), battery specs at 800 CCA .. I don't think it's battery related.
When this happens I turn the key to "ON" and then open the hood and go into the fuse panel and manually activate the starter relay and the car cranks and starts every time. I believe if this is the case the solenoid is okay too.
This problem is only occurring when I use the key to start the car. It's happening more often than it used to which leads me to believe some electrical component somewhere is failing.
I'm also seeing some weird electrical things happening too.. like I get the service stability system indication and a couple of times when that happened I lost power to my stereo.
Thought about grounds but I'm not sure where all of them are and what to check.
If anyone can help, thank you in advance!
Rich
The behavior is changing. At first when I would turn the key I would get a click click click and then sometimes it would catch, turn over and start... now I get one click and completely lose power to the entire car.. almost like the battery is disconnected. No interior lights, no door locks, no chimes - nothing. When I get it running again (as you'll see below by manually activating the start relay) my fuel stats are all reset for fuel used etc.. so it's like it was completely disconnected from battery.
I know that it is not the starter and I know it's not the battery (checked and just replaced battery - still have issue) .. I know a lot of threads say this is due to a weak battery but I've had my entire charging system checked... alternator is charging (and was replaced only last summer), battery specs at 800 CCA .. I don't think it's battery related.
When this happens I turn the key to "ON" and then open the hood and go into the fuse panel and manually activate the starter relay and the car cranks and starts every time. I believe if this is the case the solenoid is okay too.
This problem is only occurring when I use the key to start the car. It's happening more often than it used to which leads me to believe some electrical component somewhere is failing.
I'm also seeing some weird electrical things happening too.. like I get the service stability system indication and a couple of times when that happened I lost power to my stereo.
Thought about grounds but I'm not sure where all of them are and what to check.
If anyone can help, thank you in advance!
Rich