Why a Step-By-Step Process May Help If You Cannot Start Your Car

Posted on: 10 July 2017

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It's a good thing that people are always connected these days, as it means that you've been able to find some tips to help you start your car by searching on your smartphone. If you're late for a meeting and can't figure out why the vehicle won't cooperate, a step-by-step approach to problem-solving may help you. What should you do now, to try and get things fired up?

Taking It Step-By-Step

Rather than panic, you should look at this logically. Go through a process, rather than randomly testing this or that. The battery is the start of the power supply chain and this is where you should start your inquest.

Battery Condition

Have a look in the engine bay to determine the general condition of the battery. It may have been a long time since you went in for a service and over this time a certain amount of corrosion may have built up near the terminals. Mechanics will typically put grease in this area, but it might have worn away and so the terminals can become dirty. With a wire brush, clean all of the "gunk" away carefully, before making sure that all the leads are properly fixed.

If this doesn't help, you will need to determine if the battery has simply failed or not. To help you, a special tester can easily provide a reading, but if you don't have one then you might attempt to jumpstart the car using the help of a neighbour.

Do You Have Ignition?

If there is some power in the battery, look at the ignition switch next. You should be able to see a warning light on the dashboard when you move the ignition key into its "on" position. If you don't see these lights, then the switch may have failed and will need changing. When you try and crank the car from the "on" position, the dashboard lights should go dim, which indicates that the ignition switch is okay.

Hear the Starter Motor?

When you try and crank the car, you ought to be able to hear the starter motor spinning. If you can't hear anything and it's just deathly quiet, this unit may not be receiving the proper current, or could have simply failed.

Petrol Delivery

The next place to look is the fuel delivery system. Check the injectors, typically situated on top of the engine. Are all electrical connections still in their proper places? Just check that they are tight and secure.

When All Else Fails

In an ideal world, you would have fixed the problem by going through these various phases. If not, your next call should be to a mechanic, who will help you get to the bottom of the problem.