Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Any advice useful, car won't start

Is it just me or do our cars seem to have a lot of electrical problems. Anyway...

I have a 99 Contour SVT. I recently replace the battery and positive battery terminal hookup because it was corroided out and the battery was dead. Was running fine since then, no problems starting up or anything. I get in the car yesterday to come back to base and all I get when I try to turn it over is just a big "click."

Is this something simple I can do, or is it likely the starter is bad? I love are cars to death but sometimes....

Thanks for any help...

-Matt

Check the battery connections and get a jump. If it still wont turn over, the starter is probably bad. The big click is typically the starter solenoid engaging which takes much less current than the starter motor.

You could use a mutimeter to check how much current is getting to the starter. This will help you determine if you that starter is to blame.

tw0wheelin: Do you know if there is an external solenoid or is it built directly into the starter?

With ignition off, turn on the headlights. Are they normal brightness? Leave them on and turn to the start position. What happens to the headlights?

Originally posted by radioactive:

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You could use a mutimeter to check how much current is getting to the starter. This will help you determine if you that starter is to blame.

tw0wheelin: Do you know if there is an external solenoid or is it built directly into the starter?

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Starter and solenoid are all in the same unit is what Terry told me...