# My car doesn't start

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [June 10, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678 "2009-06-10T07:06:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![filmmaking101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@filmmaking101](https://community.cartalk.com/u/filmmaking101)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678/1 "2009-06-10T07:06:35Z")

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I have a Nissan Sentra (manual) 2003 with 96,760 miles. When I turn on my car, I hear something coming from the engine but the car doesn’t start up. I turn off the car and start it back up, but nothing happens. The dashboard lights are on as well as the radio. I had the battery replaced about three and a half years ago when I had 60 thousand miles. I was thinking if it was the starter? Eventually, I got the car to start after cranking it and turning it back off and on. It took about fifteen minutes to start the engine. Is this a gasoline or a starter problem? The battery is free of any residue. This problem has happened twice when the car is cold. Any suggestions on what the problem could be?

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**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 10:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678/2 "2009-06-10T10:34:08Z")

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When I turn on my car, I hear something coming from the engine but the car doesn’t start up.

Could you try and describe that something you are hearing? Is it a single click, a series of clicks, a hum, what?

When it did start did it sound any different? When it did start did it sound or feel any different than when you tried and it did not start (Like did it sound like the starter was turning the engine over faster than when it did not start?

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**Author:** ![filmmaking101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@filmmaking101](https://community.cartalk.com/u/filmmaking101)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678/3 "2009-06-10T16:53:56Z")

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My girlfriend says it sounds like me – “whining.” It’s a whining noise. Once it started, the engine sounded fine. There was nothing unusual that I could spot out. However, when I did turn it off, the car kind feels like it’s rumbling. No, it did not sound any different when it did start – it sounded fine. Earlier in the morning today, I started the car up and it was fine. Thanks for the response.

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**Author:** ![hellokit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6a8cbe/32.png) [@hellokit](https://community.cartalk.com/u/hellokit)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678/4 "2009-06-10T17:09:48Z")

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If you are hearing the starter whirring, or whining, when you try to start the engine, that sounds like the starter is running, but, it not engaging the engine. Replacing the starter is usually the “fix”.

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**Author:** ![filmmaking101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@filmmaking101](https://community.cartalk.com/u/filmmaking101)\
**Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-car-doesnt-start/31678/5 "2009-06-10T18:10:12Z")

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Thanks for the reply. 🙂 How much is a new starter, is it relatively inexpensive?