Motor will stall with no fuel pressure. Battery should be fine at this time. It should crank but not start. Check fuel pump fuse?
Engine does not crank at all. Just click click click click…
Have you checked that the battery connections are clean and tight?
Leave out “usually.”
1 Like
The shop that provided the questionable diagnosis claims that they tried to jump it and did a battery check (good) but I can’t say for sure they checked the connection. Good thought. I will make sure the next place does so. Thanks
George - My phrase “turn over” must be a midwestern thing. To me “turning over” is the same as cranking. Sorry.
It is the same as cranking. It is not the same as cranking and starting up and running. Often there needs to be more Q&A when the term is used. Same with “doesn’t start.”
It makes sense if you take it to mean “We don’t want to work on this car, in part because we don’t know how to diagnose these symptoms.” There may be other reasons, but it still comes down to “We don’t want this job.”
2 Likes
You did the right thing by asking here.
But once again, car repair is a business transaction. If you were an expert on cars, you wouldn’t need a mechanic. I am sure you are an expert, or at least highly qualified in your field and for that you get paid.
Car repair is what the mechanic does for a living. Some are much better than others. Between you and the mechanic, there is a business transaction. Any good business transaction often requires multiple opinions (diagnosis) and quotes, so I would suggest that you get a second opinion and quote. Do not give the second mechanic any information from the previous mechanic, don’t taint the diagnosis.
If you are getting a click, click, click…, either the starter has gone bad or the battery is low. If you can jump start (always try a jump start in this situation) and it runs, its the battery. What caused the battery to be low needs to be determined by diagnosis. If your son was driving in a storm, at a low speed, with the lights on and the defroster on high, he simply could have drained the battery. The alternator cannot keep up under these conditions.
If he was not driving under these conditions, it is possible that the alternator went bad. It is remotely possible that the computer could be bad as the computer controls the alternator output these days. That is extremely rare though. More likely would be a broken wire or connection between the computer and the alternator. The mechanic should have checked for that before jumping on the computer.
1 Like
On the general principle of not overlooking the obvious, have the fuses been checked?
Get it out of where it is. The guys quoting a $3K estimate aren’t offering much to make them credible.