Car wont start.

[Rics]

Not sure if Im in the right forum but there are so many this one look liked it fit..

My problem is, I had a car with a dead battery in it for two months that would only start with a jump. i would get a lilttle turing over, but it wouldnt start without jumping it. I bought a new Optima battery yesturday and put it in and it started right up.. And worked for a few hrs afterwards. I put it in the garage for the night.. Came out this morning and it wouldnt start.. I get nothing.. No clicks, no grindind. Just nothing.. Even when i jump it with another car, i get no click, no grinding. Just nothing..

All lights work, radio works, etc..

Only thing i can think of, keep in mind i know nothing about cars.. When i put the Optima battery in, the leads were in front of the battery as oppsed to the old one were they were in the back.. I had a hell of a time making the positive terminal reach the lead and i pull pretty hard to get it to reach, really stretching it...

I noticed the positve terminal has a few wires connected to it.. Are these wires a possiblity to why my car wont start now. Could I have pulled on something to hard and pulled out something that would casue this "nothingness" when i turn the key?


Thx

[matada]

A few quick questions:
1. What type of car?
2. What type of transmission?
3. Do you dash light dim when you turn the key?

[MustangRoadRacer]

sounds like the starter motor is not getting juice.
you may have pulled the wire out.
check underneath your car and see if it's hooked up.

[MagicRat]

sometimes the starter itself is bad, and can mimic a low battery.
By the way, you have the wrong battery in there. The proper replacement battery will have the same terminal set up. If you can't afford to get the right one, just get a simple 6 inch long cable extender, with the correct terminals for about $5.

[2turboimports]

it sounds to me like a bad alternator. when mine went bad on a Ford i used to own the car ran for a few hours and would start when jumping but would die after an hour or 2. just my .02

[Rics]

ITs a 99 Kia Sephia.

Not sure what kind of transmission.. If that means auto or stick, its automatic.. haha

And lights dont dim or anything..


I dont believe its the alternator.. With the old factory battry, even tho it wouldnt hold a charge, once i jumped the car and got it started it would stay started.. ANd when i put the new Optima in there, it started up and stayed going for a good hr..

Like now, i cant even jump the car with the new battery, which is fully working and charged, because it works in my other car. Ill goto jump it, and even with my old dead battery, id get the car to start and stay running with a jump till i cut the engine off.. Now its nothing.. Wont even click or grind on a jump.....

I asked a couple of my friends who kinda know cars, and they think the starter is dead.. I really dont wanna believe that, and i wanna say that i defiantly yanked on something too hard with the positive terminal with my new battery. haha

which is what im trying to get at here..

Thats my main question.

Theres a few wires going somewhere on the positive terminal of baterry. that i dont know and could pulling on them and yanking something out cuase the dead start..

[2turboimports]

i don't know about kia, but on my subaru there are 2 leads off the positive, one goes to the fuse/relay box, 1 to the starter (+ ground). The - goes to the chassis and the engine, or the body of the starter. make sure all that's intact

[2turboimports]

if you yanked the wires hard enough maybe something came loose in the relay/fuse area?

[johnnyBgood]

When you turn the key, does the dash light up and your headlights come on?

You could have a bad starter relay. They just go without warning. here is what you can do. Take 2 wires. Attach one wire from the negative of the starter to the negtive of the battery. Now, in this order, attach one end of the wire to postive terminal of the battery. Now touch the other end of the wire to the positive terminal of the starter. Now someone in the car to turn it off in case. Your car should start. If not you have a bad starter.

If your car does start, begin looking for the starter relay. It might be bad or your wiring is bad/broken.

I had this problem on my eclipse. Everything in the car turned on, but the car would not start. So I jumped it to get it home. After that, I inspected all the wiring which was good and reseated all the relays (as my auto does not have a starter relay externally, it is in the tranny) and the car started. It may have just been a bad connection somewhere.

[Rics]

Ok, i looked into it some more.. I had a extra hand help me.. When I turn the key, you cant hear it from inside the car, but if you listen from under the hood, it clicks.. Keep in mind i dont know cars or anything.. The clicking is coming from or near a box labeled " FUSE AND RELAY", or possibly from this black metal cylinder piece that is connected to the firewall from under the hood, which is directly hooked to that "FUSE AND RELAY" box..

So what could this possibly mean now?


Thx for all the responses btw.. Im reallly broke and Im trying to figure this out on my own if possible..

Oh and JohnnyBGood, Im not to sure where the starter is or what it looks like.. I would like to try that.

[888AutoGuys]

It sounds like your alternator is bad. The alternator does not produce enough power to charge your battery. Therefore, even though all the electric devices do have power when you have the engine started, your battery is not getting enough power to be charged.

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888 Auto
http://www.888auto.com
408.288.9888

[JAMES-Z24, MONTE]

Originally Posted by Rics

Not sure if Im in the right forum but there are so many this one look liked it fit..

My problem is, I had a car with a dead battery in it for two months that would only start with a jump. i would get a lilttle turing over, but it wouldnt start without jumping it. I bought a new Optima battery yesturday and put it in and it started right up.. And worked for a few hrs afterwards. I put it in the garage for the night.. Came out this morning and it wouldnt start.. I get nothing.. No clicks, no grindind. Just nothing.. Even when i jump it with another car, i get no click, no grinding. Just nothing..

All lights work, radio works, etc..

Only thing i can think of, keep in mind i know nothing about cars.. When i put the Optima battery in, the leads were in front of the battery as oppsed to the old one were they were in the back.. I had a hell of a time making the positive terminal reach the lead and i pull pretty hard to get it to reach, really stretching it...

I noticed the positve terminal has a few wires connected to it.. Are these wires a possiblity to why my car wont start now. Could I have pulled on something to hard and pulled out something that would casue this "nothingness" when i turn the key?


Thx

YOUR PROBLEM IS YOUR SAFTY NEUTRAL SWITCH AND THE ALTINATOR DOESNT MAKE U HAVE NOTHING , A BUST WONT HELP YOU EITHER. SIMPLY TRY MOVING THE SHIFTER FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE WHILE HOLDING THE IGNITION KEY IN THE CRANK POSTION. TO MAKE SURE U DONT HAVE JUST A BAD CONNECTION HAVE YOUR HEADLIGHTS TURNED ON AND TRY TO CRANK IT OVER, IF THE LIGHTS GO OUT U HAVE A BAD CONNECTION AT THE STARTER IF NOT COULD BE IGNITION SWITCH OR FUSIBLE LINK BURNT OUT.JAMES