So here's the deal....
I was in a hurry to work, and when trying to start the car, i let go of the ignition key as soon as it sounded like the engine had caught. It turns out it did not catch and the car did not start. After that, every time i try to start the car, all i hear is the starter, but nothing else. It's as if the starter is no longer connected to the engine. Has anyone ever had or heard of a similar problem? Please help.... Thanks
-D-
Almost sounds like the fuel pump fuse has blown but I can't think of a reason why it would. In that instance, the engine would seem to crank momentarily but die out and subsequent attempts would not produce anything.
CW
Do you mean the engine doesn't spin, but the starter makes a whirring noise? That would sound like a bad starter. Most likely it would need to be disassembled and greased. The old grease dries up after a few years.
If the starter is making clicking or ratchet like sounds, but does not turn over the motor, it sounds like you may be due for a new battery (if cleaning the battery connectors does not help). Batteries can go rather suddenly, one minute working, and next minute not. That is most likely if it can be jump started, but will not start on its own.
I don't think it's the battery. I can hear the starter turn, but it makes more of a whirring sound. There doesn't seem to be any clicking or ratchet sound. I can run the lights and radio, so i think my battery should be ok. Plus, i started the car fine the night before this happened. I'll try to jump it just in case, but i doubt that's the problem. Thanks for you advice.
Yeah, that's pretty much how i would describe it. The engine doesn't spin, but i can hear the starter spinning. Is this something that only a dealer/mechanic would be able to do, or can i do this myself? Thanks.
If you are hearing the starter turn and it sounds like its engaging and turning at varying speeds, you may have a broken timing chain.
Almost certainly the starter, but very small possiblity the flywheel has lost a tooth and there's nothing to engage with the starter bendix.
JM
So i ended up fixing the problem. I kept the starter going for a good
20 or 30 seconds, and just kept pumping the gas pedal. After a while, it finally caught. Now it starts fine. I'm guessing something was wrong with the fuel pump. Having the car stand for a week straight in cold weather probably didn't help either.
Running the starter for so long increases the risk of it burning out from overheating. In those times when you've had the car sit for a week, I would suggest that you let the electricals "energize" before you start the car. Simply turn the key to the RUN position without starting the car. Wait like 15 seconds, then start. The feul pumps stands to benefit the most because it will use those 15 seconds to pressurize the feul lines so when the feul injectors start firing off, there'll be plenty of feul behind the nozzles.
Also, change your feul filter. That regular maintenance item tends to be ignored alot. It should be changed every 15K miles. Lastly, maybe you should your throttle body a good cleaning as well. It will do wonders for startup and low rpm operation.
hth
David
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