Well my 1995 Nissan Sentra has a brand new battery, but the car will still
not crank over. The car’s interior lights come on and the radio plays
and everything seems to work.
When you turn the key to the crank position, it makes a click and then another
click, but does not crank! The car does not even try to crank, so we have
tried to jump the car, and when jumped, it barely cranks.
Once the car is turned off and tried to be restarted the car tries but its
does not then its does the "clicking thing"
Thanks for your time
Paul
Paul,
It sounds as if you have a starter or electrical problem! (If the engine
is mechanically sound)
The click you are hearing tells me that the starter is getting voltage. How
much voltage is the question?
A voltage drop needs to be performed on the starting circuit. In order to
do this you need a digital multi meter (DMM).
If you are loosing more than .5 volt this could cause the same symptoms you
are describing!
If you want to do this test yourself it is not hard to test for a voltage
drop. Here is the test procedure below.
1) Place your DMM on 20 volt scale.
2) Place one DMM lead on the positive post of the battery.
3) Place the other DMM lead on the positive post of the starter.
4) Try to crank your car.
If it your DMM reads voltage over .5 volt then you need to clean ALL connections
to and from the battery and starter, then retest.
You need to test the negative side of the electrical system as well.
It is the same process as I described above, you just put your DMM leads on
the engine block (as close to the starter as you can) and the negative post
of the battery.
Crank your car and read your voltage drop on your DMM.
Or if you suspect the starter is faulty, you could try to try cranking your
car and have someone GENTLY tap on the starter with a SMALL hammer. (Don't
BEAT on it or you will do irreparable damage) If it starts better, the starter
is going to be more than likely faulty.
Of course I would still check for "excessive" voltage drop just to
make sure that low voltage didn't burn up your starter.
Best wishes and thanks for the question.
James Morris
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