Having trouble starting car...Corolla

I have a 96 corolla. And I recently had trouble starting it in the morning. I have had this issue before. And usually changing the battery was the correct remedy. So I changed the battery 5 days ago. And the car had no trouble starting up until today. Right after work, at around

6:00 pm. I had a heck of a time getting the car to start. Could this be the battery again? Or could there be underlying problems?
Reply to
henree21
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The only way to tell whether the problem is the battery or not is to test the battery.

What symptoms are you experiencing? If you are hearing clicking sounds and the battery checks out as OK, then check the condition of the contacts in the starter relay. The contacts are available separately and are replaceable.

Reply to
Ray O

I haven't heard any clicking sounds. And the battery is brand new. What contacts are you referring to?

Reply to
henree21

The contacts are inside the starter relay.

Start by measuring battery voltage. The battery voltage should be somewhere between 12 and 14.4 volts. It battery voltage is OK, then check for battery voltage at the starter. If there is no power at the starter, check power coming out of the relay. If no power coming out of the relay but power is going into the relay, then the contacts are suspect.

Reply to
Ray O

Here is a link to a page showing the contacts and how to replace them.

It is one weak spot in our Toys...lol

Reply to
Scott in Florida

OOPS forgot the link

formatting link

Reply to
Scott in Florida

When you try to start it, does the engine crank (turn over) the way it normally does right before the car starts, or do you just get dead silence?

I had a Tercel from 1990 that was REALLY hard to start if the engine was cold, it would crank and crank, and if you cranked it for long enough (being careful not to overheat the battery) it would start, run like utter crap for a few minutes, then start running fine.

If I recall correctly, it was an exhaust problem. Warm, it would start right up. I am not sure how any exhaust problem could cause this, but I think it might have had something to do with exhaust gas recirculation or emissions stuff or something.

Reply to
Ernie Sty

You know what, one time I started it after several attepmts. And the car made a chainsaw like sound for about 3 minutes. Could this be a sign of an exhaust problem? I also had the mechanic check the battery, and the alternator, and both are in fine condition. THe mechanic thinks it could be the starter. But since that shop doesn't mess with starters, he referred me elsewhere. So is this a starter problem, or an exhaust problem? Or is it both?

Reply to
henree21

Check out the contacts on the starter relay. I doubt if it is an exhaust problem.

Reply to
Ray O

Yeah I am pretty sure the solenoid contacts are a good choice of culprit. But I don't know anything about cars. If I go to a mechanic to look at the starter. How do I approach him, without looking like a complete imbecile. I have always been a sucker for cons. The mechanic may tell me I have thousands of dollars of work that needs to be done. I like to be specific as possible when I have to get work done at the shop. That way they think I know what I am talking about.

Reply to
henree21

Pick a shop that employs technicians certified by the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), preferably a shop that also has AAA certification. A shop that goes to the trouble of going through the AAA certification process and employs techs who take the time and effort to become ASE certified is more likely to be honest and competent.

It is never a good idea to go to a repair shop and ask them to repair or replace a specific component, i.e., the starter or starter contacts, unless you are absolutely positive of your diagnosis. If your diagnosis was incorrect, you have nobody to blame for the unnecessary work except yourself. One should go to the repair shop and describe the symptoms as clearly and completely as possible so that the technician working on the vehicle can come to their own diagnosis and recommended repairs. When I take one of my vehicles to a shop for service, I describe the symptoms, even when I am pretty sure of the diagnosis myself. That said, having an idea of the cause of the problem is a good reality check for the shop's diagnosis.

Reply to
Ray O

Another good tip is to have them write on the estimate exactly what problem it's intended to fix. A couple times I've taken a vehicle to some place for a specific problem, they diagnosed a bad whatsis, asked me to approve replacing it, they then replaced the whatsis and the problem was still there. If you have them state on the estimate what the specific problem is you want them to fix, you have more leverage when you say "Please replace the part(s) you took out, take back the new one(s) and I'd like a full refund since you did not fix the problem and clearly this faulty whatsis was not the cause of it."

I've never done that, but at a Precision Tune I asked them specifically if replacing a certain part would fix the problem, and when it didn't, they put the old one back in and gave me a full refund after very little pushing. They tried to use the excuse that the part they replaced was indeed bad, but I countered with the fact that bad or not, I would not have paid to replace it if they had not told me it would fix the problem. In retrospect, I'm amazed that worked since I didn't have anything on paper, just a verbal understanding.

Reply to
Ernie Sty

Good advice! Especially at an independent or chain operation.

Reply to
Ray O

Thank you.

Reply to
Ernie Sty

Ray, I know you are aware of this but for people who don't know:

Poor mechanics (and maybe even good ones at times) will often guess at what's causing the problem and replace the most likely culprit. If the first part they replaced doesn't fix the problem they'll try replacing another one. The problem is, they rarely take off the new parts and re-install the old ones if the old ones were not causing the problem, charging you full parts and labor costs for replacing several parts that aren't defective (and the replacements might even be cheap aftermarket junk what will wear out prematurely) so you end up paying many times what it should actually cost to fix the problem.

And this is one of the LEAST dishonest things bad mechanics do. They have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves. If they were as good at fixing cars as they were at extracting cash from suckers, they could fix it by thumping the hood, like Fonzie on the jukebox...

Reply to
Ernie Sty

Good observation. There is a difference between a mechanic and a technician. An automotive technician goes through the trouble to have current training on automotive systems and is capable of diagnosing a condition without having to shotgun parts.

Most people define "quality " as the absence of failures or problems, and this is technically incorrect. "Quality" is manufacturing a part or component so that it adheres to a design specification, which is not quite the same thing as absence of failures or problems. A more accurate analogy for quality would be consistency. A part that is defective is one that does not adhere to its design specification. A good design will provide a part that does not fail and that can be produced consistently, and good manufacturing quality controls will yield parts that are consistent.

Toyota is probably the most consistent automaker in the world. As a result, one finds very few one-of-a-kind problems with Toyotas, and under the same operating conditions, the failure of a part or component is very consistent. In other words, they all do the same thing. Technicians at Toyota dealerships are consciously or unconsciously aware of this, so they tend to be pretty quick at diagnosing a problem because they have seen it before. On the other hand, they do not have as much experience diagnosing a problem they have not run across before so they sometimes struggle.

Reply to
Ray O

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