help my car won't start!!!!

[hugh lawson]

my 240sx is still waiting for her engine swap so i am driving my 2001 malibu but now she doesn't want to start. first it was just click click. now it is just dead silence. the radio still comes on. if i jump it she will start so do you guys and gals think it's the battery or starter or something else. please i really need help on this asap. thank you

[Zydeco]

well if your trying to jump it and it strart it sounds like the battery or the altranater. if your jumping it and it dosnt start, probly the starter.

[gabossie]

If it starts when you jump it, gotta be the battery. If it was the alternator, the car wouldn't continue to run for very long.

[getnrowdy23]

i would say battery but if the radio and whatnot still runs would think alternator... its one of them i think

[MinisterofDOOM]

yeah...I had this same problem with my Maxima a month or so ago. I could have SWORN it was the battery, but it turned out to be the alternator.Take your car to the local autozone or similar place and have them run a test on the alt/battery. Of course, when I did that with my Max, they told me the alternator was fine, which was definitely not the case. Maybe had to do with the fact that I bought that alternator there and it was still under warranty.That's still a good place to start, though. Also, if you have access to a battery you know is in good shape, swap them out. If that battery drains, you know its the alternator. If not, the problem is probably the original battery.