Dead car any mechanics

[Bert Kemp]

a little history 2003 Honda Element bought used about a year ago. Car alway started kinda sluggish but would start. after a couple months the battery would die, I'd charge battery the it would be ok for a couple weeks then die again. I bought a new battery fine for a week then the same thing started again. I took battery back had it replaced and it was fine for about 6 months then today I went to use car and battery was dead again, or so it seems. I put the charger on at 9 this morning and just now at 5pm went to see if it would start and NOTHING no clic cli clic nothing.BUT the battery seems to have a full charge. Lights are bright, they don't dim when I turn key something weird going on. meter says battery at 13.6 so any idea's

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Sounds like it might be the alternator. Not too difficult to replace on your own.

[Mike Henderson]

For this problem, where the starter won't turn over the engine - and you know the battery is good - it has to be either the starter motor is gone, or the relay that switches power to the starter motor is not working.

Much less likely the key switch could be bad and not engaging for starting.

Mike

[Brent Cutshall]

If this were a carbureted engine, I'd think something was shorting out in the wiring and draining the battery or something's wrong with a ground somewhere. You could check the ignition setup too. But I really don't know that much about fuel injection engines, I'll hafta get to it sometime.

[Wayne Lomman]

Pull out the starter and get it checked. This is the most likely problem. Any half decent auto electrician will tell you on the spot and rebuild or supply a new one. The sluggish starting from day 1 is the clue for me. Cheers

[Pat Barry]

The first thing I would do is check the simplest thing which is the connections to the battery. Don't just look, take each of them off, check for corrosion, clean them and re-attach and test. Poor connections are often the source of all these problems.

[Michael Dye]

The continuing destruction of the battery would lead me to believe you have a grounding issue. Hook a voltmeter to the battery and watch it for a few hours. If you have something pulling power it will certainly show up on the voltmeter. As a test, hook the meter up and then turn on the headlights. You will see a steady drain until you turn the lights off. Of course, all of this is done with the engine off and ignition off. If you see that the drain on the battery stops, start looking for a bad ground, perhaps engine to chassis. Good luck, electrical issues are never easy.

[Steve Peterson]

The easiest check that I use is to turn on an interior light and watch it dim as you start the engine. In normal operation, the light dims slightly. If the light goes all the way out, then you have a dead battery or a weak connection to the battery. If the light stays bright, then you might have a bad starter or solenoid.

Steve

[Bert Kemp]

The first thing I would do is check the simplest thing which is the connections to the battery. Don't just look, take each of them off, check for corrosion, clean them and re-attach and test. Poor connections are often the source of all these problems.

BUT the battery seems to have a full charge. Lights are bright, they don't dim when I turn key something weird going on. meter says battery at 13.6 so any idea's

[Art Mann]

Sounds like the starter solenoid or starter itself to me.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Sounds like the starter solenoid or starter itself to me.

I agree. It's a guess, but it would be my guess. However, the simplest thing to try first is to temporarily hook-up a known-to-be-good battery and see what happens.

Some cars have wires or terminals in the engine compartment that can be used to by-pass the relays and connect the starter directly to the battery. I have had "bad" starters that would work with the presumably higher current they get that way.

Starters make a click but relays are quieter. Find out where the starter relay is in the engine compartment and make sure you don't hear it click.

[Gordon Eyre]

The starter motor is fairly easy to take off so I would start there. When you get it off take it to an electrical motor shop and they will tell you quickly if it is bad. A rebuild is much cheaper than a new one if it is in fact bad. If it is not bad then check the cable feeding the starter motor and the starter solenoid. If the connections are all good then I would suspect the a problem with the key switch. I would probably take my car to the dealer service department to have that checked out. Best wishes for a solution.

[Myk Rian]

Why not take the car to the auto parts store and have them test the battery and charging system?
Seems to me the voltage regulator may be bad.

[Gordon Eyre]

The starter motor is fairly easy to take off so I would start there. When you get it off take it to an electrical motor shop and they will tell you quickly if it is bad. A rebuild is much cheaper than a new one if it is in fact bad. If it is not bad then check the cable feeding the starter motor and the starter solenoid. If the connections are all good then I would suspect a problem with the key switch. I would probably take my car to the dealer service department to have that checked out. Best wishes for a solution.

[David L Morse]

Another thing to look for would be lockout switches on the gear selector or brake pedal. I'm not familiar with Fords but neither of my two GMs will start if they're not in park or neutral. You should be able to find a schematic for your car via google.