Car won't start, headlights, power windows and doors work, no noise from engine

I’m with Big Marc on this one. You need to eliminate the possibility of a bad neutral safety switch first. Just shift to “N” and try and start the car. Shifting to “D” Big Marc will not allow the vehicle to start so I don’t understand that part of the comment. You may have meant “P”. In any regard Thrifty…try to start the vehicle in “N” first.

Read the OP’s previous post back on Sept 4 about the lights dimming after getting a new battery and a new alternator. He says he drives about 250 miles a month.

The OP needs to find out if there is a parasitic load drawing power from the battery when the car is parked and “off”. He mentioned an aftermarket radio was installed.

A chronically undercharged battery will make an alternator work harder and that will make the headlights dim more when things like the cooling fans cycle on and off. There could be a short somewhere or another fault in the wiriing that is drawing off power from the battery.

The '02 Sebring is one of those cars that gets expensive due to a lot of repairs as they age. The OP might want to look at replacing this one before it becomes a money pit for him.

No it didn’t start when I tried to put it in neutral either.

And I can’t replace this car. Even a used car would cost easily $5000 or more and I couldn’t trust that it wouldn’t itself be a money pit. A new car is out of the question.

And I think the headlight dimming might have just been because the connection on the passenger’s side headlight was loose.

I might have to take this back to the garage that did the alternator repair and have them look at it. You think they could have done some faulty wiring that is causing this new problem?

I took a voltmeter to my battery. It says it’s got 12 volts. Isn’t that a good, healthy charge?

12.6 volts is fully charged. each cell makes 2.1 volts times 6. has the battery been tested? if good you will need a wiring diagram of the starter cercuit start checking to see if your getting voltage at the starter then work your way towards the dash.

Battery charge is best checked by a load test. Many auto parts stores provide this service for free. That’s the first place to start. I’m assuming the engine isn’t turning over. For the engine to turn over two things have to be verified by measurement:

  • Battery must provide at least 9.6 v to the starter battery terminal when the key is in “start”.

  • The starter selenoid must receive the “start” signal of specified voltage for the starter, usually at least 10 volts.

That’s usually where a mechanic will start, looking at the voltages at the two starter motor terminals. If the problem is due to a low voltage on the battery terminal at the starter motor when the key is in “start”, that is usually caused by a bad battery or bad battery connections. If the problem is due to not receiving the “start” signal at the SM selenoid, that is usually caused by a bad ignition switch, clutch switch (if manual), neutral saftey switch (if automatic), and/or starter relay.

Is there a fuse involved in the starting function, like out under the hood??

If the engine light and all the warning lights do not come on then your system is not getting primary power to the computer. Start with the system relays or the ignition switch. It is not the battery or the alternator. The power is not being routed to all the normal switch on circuits.

I hate to repeat myself, but is there a fuse in the starting system??

Euryale you think the car’s computer could be busted?

Hey all.

This is resolved. In the end, it turned out that the root cause was one burnt out fuse under the hood. Total repair cost:

$4.29 parts (for a set of fuses I bought at the Pep Boys)
$0.00 labor (because I didn’t panic and take it to a repair shop and managed to do this myself).

Car starts right up, dashboard warning lights come on like they’re supposed to, radio works. I’ll have to reprogram my radio’s presets and set the time again, but that’s why I keep the manual for the thing in the glove compartment. Setting the original radio’s clock and presets was easy; the new one not quite so intuitive.

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Oh and thank you all for your input. It helped steer me down the correct path to the root of the problem.

Great to hear. Congrats.

I would think that the malfunctioning dash lights and radio would point to a malfunctioning ignition switch. The other answers don;t account for these.

Uh oh. The car wouldn’t start again. I checked the same fuse, and it blew. I replaced it and tried again; it instantly blew again.

What fuse blew? This may be an obvious question but you did replace it with one of the same rating, I take it?

Yes, I replaced it with an identical fuse. I’m not sure which fuse blew, since the owner’s manual says that it’s for the horn, but the horn works fine.

When pulling the fuses this past Friday, I dropped one of the bigger ones and I’m not 100% certain that I put it back in the right place. Yesterday the car was running but the rear window defroster wasn’t. Or at least, the light on the button that indicates it is working didn’t work.

The mechanics have it now. They said that when they got the car yesterday, they put a new fuse in, and it started up right away. Since then they haven’t been able to recreate the problem.

The owner’s manual says that it’s for the horn, but the horn works fine.

Fuse #8 in the interior fuse box is for the horn, Fuse #8 in the PDC (under hood fuse box) is for the starter solenoid. I have replaced a few starters on Stratus/Sebrings for blowing this fuse.

Sedan, convertible or coupe?