I drove the car home from work last night around 9PM. No problems. I get up and plan to use it this morning and around 9:15AM i go to leave and it won't start.

The lights will come on, and all the dash lights will light up. I'll attempt to start the car and it will go "reh reh reh reh" like it's cranking but nothing happens. The firs 5 or 6 "reh"s will be about the same speed then it will start to slow after that.

I'm relativly inexpirienced but not afraid to try things.

So far i've tried the following...

- Made sure gas was in the car (over half a tank is there)
- Made sure it was in park (automatic transmission)
- Disconnected stereo amp from battery
- Made sure nothing was jammed in muffler (blocking output)
- Installed new sparkplugs

Any additional input would be great. The battery in the car is an Optima "Yellow Top" and is probably only 3 months old or so.

Thanks

 

sounds like the battery is almost dead. Try bringing the battery for a test somewhere and see if that is the main problem first. That would be the easiest and least expensive step. Also, check if the battery terminals are loose.

 

I'll give that a shot tommorow (when places are open again).

 

If you think its the battery, u culd try jumping it w/ another car (or if u have another battery) doesn't sound like the problem tho, but definitely worth a try! GL

 

I really avoid jumpstarts. It could make a mess of electronics. Take the battery off and use a different one instead of a jump if at all possible. It really isn't that hard with this car.

 

Sounds like a battery issue to me.
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soldered??? If the wire melted, ur not worried the solder will 2? Thats y u use wire clamps nuts in houses, not solder... then again thats a lot higher voltage, but still, if the wire melted, soldering it seems risky. But it must be working so watever

 

Check the battery terminal. Might be loose.
Then jump start from another car and see if it runs.
Drive around to charge the battery

 

UPDATE

Ok... not the battery. I swapped my battery with my mom's car battery to see if it would start up with hers. Even with her battery (which worked about 45 minutes prior and worked after going back into her car) it would not startup.

Anyone have any other ideas?

I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this one. :-/

 

jus a hint...... try check fuses.... maybe fuel pump fuse?? jus a WILD guess

 

If you have power, then its either a fuel or spark problem. I know that you changed the spark plugs, but maybe theres something wrong with the ignition. Check to see if you have spark. If you have spark, then I could probably guarantee that its then a fuel problem. Check fuel filter, fuel pump, etc...

 

check the ground on the transmission, it might be broken off.

the ground on the transmission is responsible for the ground for the starter.

 

THIS IS NOT LOOING GOOD. :-/

I checked the fuses in the engine compartment. They're all good. I spent some time visually inspecting the electrical wiring to see if i could find anything loose, broken, or cut. Everything that i looked at looked fine. I also opened the airbox to see if anything was clogged in it. The filter was a bit dirty but nothing seemed wrong with it.

However, when i tried to start the car up after doing those 3 things, a new behavior emerged.

The car will do about 3 or 4 "reh"s like it's cranking them it will sort of "spit" were it's like "toohhhhh". After the first few cycles reh-reh-reh-reh-toohhh it will take longer to "recover" and start the cycle again. Shortly after it does this the smell of gas is in the air.

Also, i'm not sure if this is anything important, but there was a gel, sweet, lubricator, something smell when i opened the airbox. Not sure if that's normal or not.