Hello new here. Hoping to get some help. Jeep Patriot 2015. Battery is good. Spark plugs just changed. Problem is occasionally and now happening often, my car won’t start. Specifically nothing at all happens when I turn the key except one click sound and all the electrical stuff turns on. The motor won’t turn. There is no crank sound at all. Just that click. If I leave it “on” the click sound will continue every 5 seconds or so. I figured if it was a bad starter, it wouldn’t sometimes work and sometimes not. It’s total luck when it turns on or doesn’t. Battery looks clean. Please help thanks.
There could be unseen corrosion at one or both battery terminals. Removing the cables and wire brushing the battery posts and the insides of the connectors could do the trick.
If that doesn’t solve the problem, it’s probably the copper contacts in the starter’s solenoid. They get burnt and debris builds up inside the solenoid. Result is there’s not always solid contact between the contacts and the disc on the end of the solenoid plunger. You could remove the starter and clean up the solenoid innards - or take it to an auto electric shop - or take the car to a repair shop. If they find the problem is the starter, they will most likely put in a rebuilt starter. It takes less time than sending your starter out for repairs.
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Thank you so much. So it makes sense that there is no cranking at all if it is the dirty battery connectors?
Check the start relay in the fuse box. Swap it with another, identical one nearby. See if that clears it up.