Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Battery or Starter?

Well I turn the key one click, and the battery chimes sound fine. Radio works fine. All that.

Turn it one more, to give power to windows and whatnot, and everything goes dim and sounds like the battery has very little power left.

If I go BACK a click, then it's fine again like stated befoer.

I tried to jump start my car, but all I get is a clicking repeated over and over again. Nothing else. Lights come up and windows work at full power again when in accessory mode, but the car won't start.

Is it a dead starter? Or is it bad cell in my battery (if it's even possible) that's causing this?

Thanks!

can you tell what the batt voltage is? if it doesnt even click or try to turn over, its probably the battery.

My friend's Taurus wagon refused to jump, battery was shorted somehow. Try recharging the battery with a charger, if no go, time for a new battery. If it starts, check charging system, 14 volts range after start.

Much to my demise it was not the battery. I dropped in a new one to no avail.

So looks like I get to get a little dirty..... er.

Check your relays! You also want to check your battery cables. Make sure they aren't cracked or corroded. This leads to voltage loss due to extra resistance. Check the ground wire under the battery tray for corrosion around the bolt where it bolts to the frame.

Well I checked the cables, they looked good.

Relays looked fine too.

But I'm gonna just have the dealer look at it. I removed just the motor first to make it easier to get to everything else but for the life of me, I can't get the gearing assembly off. So when I went to put it back together, one of the little roller gears fell out, and I tried to look for it everywhere with no luck.

Goddamnit.

Does anyone know how one checks the relays? I mean, other than visually inspecting them to make sure they haven't exploded or something... Is there a resistance specification they should be at, or should one just check continuity at the relay, or what?

My car will not start, and I've gotten the battery recharged...mine will crank, though, so it's a little different situation, but no start. I have gas in the tank, and I've checked the coil and the wires and plugs are new, and the coil is firing, so I'm left with either a reclusive electrical issue or a fuel issue... I'm ruling out an air issue, because I checked the filter, and I've kept the throttle body and IAC and MAF clean, and the car started before I put it in the garage for a couple weeks...blah.

If you car cranks but doesn't start and the fuel pump is working, check the ignition relay under the dash. It's fairly common and often overlooked. One way to tell if it's the problem is to turn the car to the run (NOT start) postion and see if your power windows work (or blower in no power windows). If they don't then you have a bad ignition relay.