Car Will Not Turn On

[Graberhieny]

Yesterday I went all around town driving my car and it was running and starting up perfectly fine. Then I get to my house and turn it off and go inside. Then come right back to my car in about 3 mins to turn it on and go to the gas station and the car would not turn on.

Symptoms:When I sit in the car and put the key on ON all the dash lights turn on. When I try to crank the car all the lights will go away and then complete silence. Nothing Happens.

Then when I repeat that process and place the switch on ON the lights come On very slowly and stay very dim. And I still get complete silence when I try to crank.

If I want for all the light to come on bright I would have to place the car in neutral and let it roll a little bit and then place it in park and the lights come on bright on ON position, but then Silence and no lights when I try to crank. I would appreciate all the help that I can get on this.

P.S. My dad told me that it might be the inhibitor clutch interlock relay problem. How would I go about on trying to unlock this Inhibitor Clutch Relay?

[allensteiner]

first i'd try to jump it. had a problem with interior lights staying and they drained the battery in a couple of minutes - i have a crappy battery. make sure your battery terminals are clean and tight. might be a loose connection on the starter. but my bet is on the battery.

[Graberhieny]

I have already tired to jump it but not luck. I think it has something to do with the alarm system. I left my driver side window open and locked the doors. Waited about 30 secs to let the light flashing. Then I tied to open the door by unlocking it from the inside and the alarm would not go off. When I did this before when the car was running normal the alarm would trigger if I was to open it up like that.

[allensteiner]

have you tried to lock and then unlock with your remote?

[Graberhieny]

I do not have a keyless entry remote... ohh yeah my starter is good I just installed it today around 3 PM and made the service rep test it in the machine before giving it to me.

[allensteiner]

i'm not a specialist but i'd unlock the front doors with a key, lock'em with the "thing" by the door handle and after your alarm activates unlock with the key again. would be a lot easier with a fob - pretty cheap on ebay

[Graberhieny]

my alarm will not trip at all

[allensteiner]

here's what i found in my book:1. turn key so start and if doesn't leave on ON for about 5 secs2.turn to OFF or LOCK for about 5 secs3. repeat 1 and 24. try starting again

[MinisterofDOOM]

The clutch inhibitor is a switch tied to the clutch pedal. It won't let the car start if it doesn't sense that the clutch pedal is depressed. If something's wrong with it, it could produce symptoms like you describe.

If you have a continuity tester, it should be simple to test. Should show continuity while "on" (clutch depressed). Might even just be out of adjustment (you can see how to adjust it below).

my alarm will not trip at all

Even if the alarm won't cooperate, try rolling up the windows and locking the doors normally (using the lock button inside the door). Then UNlock them with the key in the door from the outside. See if that makes any difference.

[Mike G]

.. ohh yeah my starter is good I just installed it today around 3 PM ...

Did you have this problem before you installed your new starter? If not, then there is a problem along the electrical lines that you disconnected/reconnected. I would double check electrical connections and have the battery tested. One gremlin that haunted me on another vehicle was the under-hood light. That little booger wouldn't turn off sometimes and would kill the battery.

I just love electrical problems... Mike

[Graberhieny]

Man again. A simple problem was turned into a long drawn out process again by me. I am thinking about not working on my car anymore and just letting my dad take care of it, since he was a mechanic in New York. Since, I am trying to become independent I am trying to work on the car myself, but it is a bumpy start. Anyways, the problem was that the battery had a dead cell. But the thing is I do not understand why I was getting 12.83 Volts on my meter. When I turn the key all the lights glowed up perfectly.

This repair cost me $34.71 for a new battery. It was still under some warranty so i got 30 something dollars knocked off.

[cocotazo]

Hello Did you ever resolve the "bumpy" start problem?

[Graberhieny]

No. I never got it fixed. I still have to try to crank the car like 3 or 4 times before the car will start. Also if I turn the car off and turn it on immediately it will work on the first try. This problem is killing me. I am not sure what to do. My father and I were thinking about selling the car for whatever we get and buy a 5th generation. I would really like to solve this problem and keep the car. I do not want to take a new car to college and get it scratched and dented. Any help on this problem would be really appreciate.

[cocotazo]

I hope I can help. I recently had a rough/bumpy start problem that began some months ago. At times the car would start w/o any signs of a problem. This past week it died!!! I had bright dash lights and a reading of 12.60 volts from the battery. I would turn the key in the ignition and nada. For fear of towing and repair/parts, I remove the starter(easy) and took it to Advance Auto. They tested it.....nada. Then to ensure that they wired the fried starter correctly, they tested a new starter.......lovely!!!! I had a bad starter. Now with 15mins of labor and a new starter everything's fine. I even noticed that the stress of the worn starter seemed to bog the car down, it feels "new" now.

[rrs26ja]

I had a problem like this, my wife did not put the car all the way into park. Try moving the shifter in Neu or Park. If its a standard, make sure it s in Netural and you have the clutch all the way in.