basic car question (wont start, probably the starter)

last night i jump into my car, press down on the clutch and break and i notice that the break has extra tension. its not going down all the way like it should, but the clutch is fine. i turn the ignition but i dont get any juice. the car isnt catching the battery.

the battery isnt dead because i can turn on my lights. so at first i figured it must be the starter or maybe the alternator or something like that. but how can it be the starter or the alternator if im getting an added pressure on the break petal before i even put my keys in the ignition?

10 days ago my clutch blew out on me. i wasnt able to shift gears. the next morning i tried to start my car but the ignition wouldnt catch. i was getting juice and the car was rocking but it wouldnt start. i didnt turn the ignition more than 3 times total because i didnt want to blow my starter. i had the car towed to a garage and they told me that it was the clutch and fixed the issue. i drove the car home and it worked for several days.

then this happened. i plan on taking the car back to the garage but im a little worried that this might have been caused by them turning the ignition too many times and blowing my starter, so id like to know what the problem is before i take my car some where to make sure i get better service this time.


thanks alot for taking the time to read this. its really appreciated. let me know if you know exactly what the problem is my car is having.

Let us know the make model and year of the car.

Your stiff brake pedal is probably very normal. If they are power brakes, they are vacuum assisted. The brake booster saves a little vacuum, but only enough for a couple pumps before you run out of help. Sometime try pumping the brake with the car off. You should get about three pumps before it gets very stiff.

Don't be too quick to blame the shop for the starter, and its not the alternator. Use then handle of a hammer or something "soft" to give a few good raps on the starter and see if it starts then. If it does, you've discovered that its the starter. If that doens't work you might want to test battery voltage. Its quite possible that the battery has enough juice to make the lights burn but not enough to start the car.

If its rocking again when you hit the switch, then they didn't properly fix the clutch.