I own a 1997 OBW with 70K miles that has an intermittent starting problem. On three different occasions, when the key was turned the first or second time, you would hear one click but no start and no other clicks. When turned again, the car would start. This has occurred first thing in the morning, in the late afternoon after the car had been used early afternoon and early evening after the car had been used during the day. I thought cold and damp conditions were the problem but that occurred this morning and the car started up without any problem. Any suggestions? Thanks.
97 Outback Starting Problem
Sep 30, 2004
6 Replies
Sounds like the battery, particularly if it's over 4 years old. Another possibility is poor battery or starter connections. AutoZone will do a free battery check but, sort of expect you to buy theirs if yours is bad. They do have good batteries though as I have one. ed
Before you get to far into this, clean the battery contacts. This can often occur when it is not getting a good ground. The next thing to do is to drive to a place that checks your battery for free. Most of the parts place offer this service and you do not even need to take your battery out of the car. I would then check the starter and the ignition. A question... do you use a key ring waited down with a lot of keys? The good news is that it does not appear to be anything major and with the amount of miles your have, I highly doubt it is.
Try the cheap first which is battery/starter connections and advance to checking the battery and then alternator output. ed
Sound advice. I too tried all the cheap and easy to find things b4 I resorted to the dealer.
DJay
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