I tried to start my car after 2 days of not having been driven. When I turn the key, there is only a rapid, loud clicking sound. There seems to be plenty of power from the battery, but the starter motor will not engage. Can you please suggest solutions from most likely to least? Could it be a faulty starter solenoid? Where is it located? How would I test to determine if that is the problem? Thanks for any assistance.
I Would Check And Clean The Battery Cables At The Battery
You can carefully remove them, clean them, and put them back. Having lights, radio, etcetera, doesn’t necessarily mean that enough current is getting to the starter to start the car.
After cleaning the connections, you can try using a jumper cable to jump from the black negative ( - ) battery terminal to a good clean spot on the engine to add another ground cable in case the original one isn’t doing its job.
You can try jump starting it and driving to a chain store Auto Parts. Many check the battery and charging system for free. You could have a bad battery or a charging system problem. If it starts up, the starter is probably good.
I would do these things before suspecting the starter. Be very careful with jumper cables, tools near the battery, and so on. You can cause damage if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.
Battery cable connections are good & clean…I’ll try the other suggestions…thanx
I Don’t Know If Those Are Top-Posts Or Side-Posts On That Battery.
Sometimes side-post connections especially, lose their connection. They appear OK, but may be loose or have a little corrosion that you don’t notice.
I’d suspect the battery. How did you come to the conclusion there seems to be plenty of power from the battery? It take more than plenty of power. It takes a whole bunch of power from the battery to engage and turn over the starter. I’d try to jump it if that’s possible.
I’m not sure what the diff is between “plenty” and “a whole bunch” :o) but I’ll be sure to take your advice & rule out the battery first !! thanx oh, by the way, the posts are top mount, not side…to answer the previous ?