Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with Starter

Why won't my car start?

torpark — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:45:37 -0800

Why won't my car start? I have a 94 Toyota Camry. When I put the key in and turn it over, I get nothing but a click from under the hood. I've replaced the alternator, the battery, and the starter twice.

The car used to do this occasionally when I would start it, stop it, and try to restart it in a short time period, such as getting out to fill up my gas tank. I took it to an electrical shop, and naturally they couldn't reproduce the problem.

Now it doesn't even turn over at all. All the dash lights are on like normal, no fuse warnings or idiot lights. When I turn the key, the panels dim, and we just get a click from the starter. No cranking. Just turn-click. Turn-click.

Any ideas? What can I do? I really need this car to work tomorrow.

Don't make me call CarTalk.

drpynchon — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:51:30 -0800

Help with my friend's car trouble... So I got a call from a friend with this: 1 month ago her car engine failed to start. She turned the key, the lights went on, the engine sounded like it was going to turn over appropriately then she just kept hearing a recurring screech from the the thing and it wouldn't start. At that point her battery and spark plugs were only 6 months old (this is a 2003 Toyota Solara I think).

She called AAA to get it towed and the guy that came ran diagnostics on site after attaching electrodes to her battery. He said the battery was surprisingly underpowered given its relative youth, gave her a receipt with some metric of the batteries inadequacy and juiced it up with his gadget, apparently buying her a week of time. It started without trouble.

She took it the next day to a mechanic who thought the alternator was busted and he replaced both the alternator and the battery. From there the car started and ran fine until today. Now it's doing the same thing it was a month ago. Engine rumbles but fails to fully start.

Any ideas? Also, is she entitled to ask for repairs of the problem without being charged an arm and a leg? She paid almost $500 for the work done last time.

My car runs Win98

vernondalhart — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:55:27 -0800

Ok, on top of the starter issues, my car has begun to idle very strangely... I last asked here about my car not starting---not that this has been fully resolved, but it works most of the time. Unfortunately, this makes it very difficult for the mechanic to find anything wrong with it.

Be that as it may, I have another issue. At about the same time, it started idling very strangely. It usually should idle at around 1000rpm, but sometimes when you start it, it idles at 2000rpm---moreover, when you put the clutch in after coming to a stop, it idles up and down from around 1200rpm to 2000rpm between two to seven times. Needless to say, this is not likely normal behaviour.

What makes it more confusing is that, much like the joke says, if you shut it off and turn it back on, it runs usually runs normally.

Now, this has been happening more and more often, but only since the starter issues began---which suggests that there is likely some relation there.

I've looked online, and about all I can find is information relating to similar problems in other makes of car, which seem very manufacturer specific, and totally not helpful---other than, perhaps, I need to replace my sparkplugs. Or maybe fiddle with the timing belt. Which, it should be noted finally, has never been replaced in all 226666 odd kilometers of driving.

Is my sourdough starter supposed to do that?

esilenna — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:49:48 -0800

DumbQuestionFilter: Is my sourdough starter supposed to shrink? A couple of days ago, for the first time ever, I made a sour dough starter from a recipe I found in a book. I followed the instructions to the letter and used 375g flour, 3 tsp yeast, and 4.5dl water, all mixed well in a glass jar and then covered with a kitchen towel and left it out on the counter top. For the first 6-7 hours it grew and grew, was all bubbly, but then it collapsed to a quarter of it's largest size.

It has tiny bubbles throughout and smells a lot like beer, has a cm thick layer of goopy frothy bubbly liquid on top, so I *think* it's doing well, but is the shrinkage supposed to happen? Nothing I've read about sour dough starters mentions any collapses so I was wondering if there are any MeFites who have made their own sour dough with experiences to share?

Also, I want to use this sour dough to make sour dough no-knead bread. Any and all favourite recipes are gratefully accepted.

Tell me about remote starters for cars.

damn dirty ape — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:59:28 -0800

Tell me about remote starters for cars. I'm thinking of getting a remote starter for my older saturn, but honestly dont know much about them other than marketing claims. Can some remote starter owners tell me about cost, installation, everyday usage, things to watch out for, etc? It sounds like such a tempting toy, especially in the winter. The car is an automatic and has a factory alarm.

The only catch here is that I park on the street so the radio on this device has to be good enough to start the car from 100' or so. I usually get a space in front of my building but not always.

Car Wont Start

slowtree — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:00:34 -0800

My Car wont start, It just clicks when i try and eventually stops doing anything! My wife has a 98 Mustang. He car sat for a few weeks in cold weather while we where out of town. We tried to start it but the battery was completely dead. We then tried to jump it but all we got where loud clicks. I took the battery to the Auto Parts store where they confirmed that it was completely dead, said most likely something was draining it (thanks auto part store guy). They charged it for an hour i brought it home and put it back in the car. Tried to start it and got clicks......then nothing, it was completely dead again (no lights, auto lock, open car door chime even died slowly and painfully) What else could it be? There where no issues trying to start it before?

Trying to find a specific pair of stretchy Starter shorts!

ssnickerer — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:34:48 -0800

Anyone know where to buy these simple Starter stretchy shorts? Here's what they look like. I bought a pair at Walmart a little more than a year ago and loved them. I left them at my cousin's last month (really far away from home) and have since been looking to buy another pair, but, save for the above webpage, I haven't been able to find them anywhere — locally or online! Has anyone seen these around? They haven't stopped making them have they?! They're seriously my favorite shorts. =P Thanks, all!

Broke down in Berkeley.

sophist — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:57:05 -0800

My car won't start. The car is a 1990 Subaru Loyale. Its been sitting around mostly unusued throughout the year because I have been in school. I try to start it up and drive it around every few weeks, but today when I went to give it a go it just wasn't happening.

It makes the "chu-chu-chu-chu" sound alright, the radio works and the fan blows air, but it won't turn over. The battery gauge shows the level somewhere around 1/3 charge. Does it just need a jump, or is it more likely to be something like the starter?

Vicious circle

Morrigan — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:05:01 -0800

My car dies periodically and the shop tinkers with it (starter, alternator, battery, etc.) but my mechanic has opined that part of the problem may be that I don't drive it enough. Does anyone have any experience with trickle chargers? I don't drive it in part because it is unreliable; it is unreliable in part because I don't drive it.

Any other suggestions besides the obvious one of driving it more?

Sourdough started, now how to finish?

otherwordlyglow — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:40:06 -0800

Is my sourdough starter ready? I've been building a sourdough starter for the last few weeks, starting with organic rye flour and then transitioning to organic bread flour. Usually feeding once or twice a day, about a half cup each of flour and water (having dumped out an equal amount first). It smells the way I think it should (fresh, sour, kinda like fresh paint) and is nice and bubbly and is clearly doing something good but how do I know when it's ready to go? I've heard that it should rise up to double its size after feeding and it's not doing that at all though it does rise a slight bit and bubbles up. It's been about 3 weeks of minding the starter and I'm wondering how long it could possibly take......sure I know that they continue to mature and change over many many years, if you treat it well but I want sourdough bread now!! Does it matter that I'm doing a batter-style starter as opposed to a firmer dough style?

It usually sites out on my kitchen counter in a mason jar with the lid loosely closed. Once or twice when I know I won't be around for more than 24 hours, I've put it in the frig after feeding and then brought it out again when I'm back to resume a regular feeding. That doesn't seem to present any change in behavior.

Any and all tips to sourdough starter success are welcome.

Start me up! Old Buick needs love.

Mister_A — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 07:48:39 -0800

BuickFilter: I have an '86 Buick Century 4-cylinder (it's the "Iron Duke" motor). Yes, I know, hot. I think I need a new starter. What do you think? The car runs like a champ, but starting it is getting trickier and trickier. The starter generally engages, but then disengages too quickly - sounds like the engine only turns over once or twice, then the starter just makes this sort of rrrrrmmmmmm! whizzing sound (it's clearly not engaged anymore). So sometimes it starts right away, but if it hasn't run for a while, or it's cold and/or damp, it takes many, many tries to start the thing. Sound like a new starter is needed?

Oh, and bonus points for tips on installing a new starter.

Thanks.

Please help my wounded Civic.

nitsuj — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 06:32:44 -0800

I have a 1991 Honda Civic DX hatchback with ~125k miles on it. It runs like a champ, except when it doesn't start.... Please forgive me, as I don't know too much about cars.

Two weeks before I bought it, the owner rear-ended someone. The hood is a bit smashed at the nose, which in turn caused the top of the hood (closest to the windshield) to pop up and not latch properly. There's a small crack-opening on both sides of the hood, as well as near the windshield. The point is: there's not a good seal protecting the elements from entering my engine compartment.

Every once in a while I'll try to start her up and the engine cranks, but doesn't turn over. Everything sounds completely normal when trying to start it, except I don't get the satisfying roar of the engine followed by the quiet idle.

The odd thing is, just about every time it hasn't started, it's usually just after we've had a big rain. I can go out in the morning, try to start it up and get nothing. If I wait a few non-raining hours, it seems to start up just fine (as if something has since dried off.)

Forgive my ignorance, but could water be getting under my hood and "flooding" my engine, or making some belts wet that cause my car not to start?

Here are a few pictures of the car and said damage, if it helps: 1, 2 (warning: obvious self-link, small JPGs)

Im trying to obtain as much free information/advice without taking it to a mechanic, as I've only paid $900 for the entire car itself.

Question number 14261

pzarquon — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:27:00 -0800

MotorFilter: My wife's car's starter is haunted! Twice now, when turning the key to start the car, the engine starts but the starter keeps going, as if I just held the key in the start position. [MI]

Question number 13302

callmejay — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:08:30 -0800

I'm trying to stop asking, "So what do you do?" What are some more interesting conversation starters? What do they ask or say in your area?