car having trouble starting

The_Grimy_One · Post by **The_Grimy_One** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:52 am

i have an 03 se and my car dpes not always start up. it is not my alternator or battery... it will acy as though it is gonna start, "click click click", but never turns over. really hve no idea what it could be. usually have a few tries it starts, but at times it takes a while. pretty embarrassing. could it be a relay? the starter? almost seems like a fuel problem, but idk. thanks ahead of time.

C1DoG · Post by **C1DoG** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:48 am

From experience, it sounds like it could be the starter. I would get it tested to see if it is still good.

NiteHawk · Post by **NiteHawk** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 9:59 am

sounds more like a bad ground to me...

have you upgraded the main grounds in your engine bay yet? if not i recommend you do that....8G will suffice...

more specifically, the one that goes from the trans casing to the battery tray...upgrade that and move it to the battery terminal instead...

The_Grimy_One · Post by **The_Grimy_One** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:56 pm

NiteHawk wrote:sounds more like a bad ground to me...

have you upgraded the main grounds in your engine bay yet? if not i recommend you do that....8G will suffice...

more specifically, the one that goes from the trans casing to the battery tray...upgrade that and move it to the battery terminal instead...

yea, i upgraded the Big 6, maybe i did something wrong. ill check them all tomorrow. i used mostly 4 gauge, some 8 on the passenger side grounds, and 0 from the battery to the chassis. so ground the tranny straight to the battery?

OB · Post by OB » Sun Jun 05, 2011 9:37 pm

Could be the starter solenoid on it's way out. Next time it doesn't start, have someone whack the solenoid housing while you crank it. If it starts, you need a new starter (solenoid is integral). A dead spot in the windings can cause an intermittent no start. It would theoretically only not start when the starter was resting on that dead spot, hence why it sometimes works. A similar issue could also be going on with the ignition switch or starter relay. If the solenoid trick doesn't seem to help, change the relay. If that isn't it, I would troubleshoot the ign switch and grounds.

NiteHawk · Post by **NiteHawk** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:28 am

The_Grimy_One wrote:
NiteHawk wrote:sounds more like a bad ground to me...

have you upgraded the main grounds in your engine bay yet? if not i recommend you do that....8G will suffice...

more specifically, the one that goes from the trans casing to the battery tray...upgrade that and move it to the battery terminal instead...
yea, i upgraded the Big 6, maybe i did something wrong. ill check them all tomorrow. i used mostly 4 gauge, some 8 on the passenger side grounds, and 0 from the battery to the chassis. so ground the tranny straight to the battery?

the more direct of a path you have back to the battery...the better.

The_Grimy_One · Post by **The_Grimy_One** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:43 am

Thanks for the help guys. It has started fine all day today, so if and when it happens again, I will bang on the starter some. Starter seems easy enough to change out so, and of course the relay is easy, just dont want to spend too much money if I dont have to. Thanks.