question about cars: from dumb blonde

[cherisciera]

Hi guys. I know NOTHING about cars. All I know right now about mine is that it wont start. I can't find any manuals or anything here at my house. All I need to know is what the big round thing behind my battery is called. It has a little black box attached to it thats making a clicking noise after I try to start it. Now my dome light doesn't even come on, I thought the battery was dead but there should be no reason for that. I have wiggled and tightened the battery connection things because that worked for it once before when it did this. Sorry I'm rambling. ok so all I need to know is what that big round thing is that the little black box is attached to. Once I know that I can call my dad for help.
Thanks,
Cheri

[maxwedge]

What car/year/ engine are you talking about?

[cherisciera]

sorry, it's an 88 Olds Cutlass Ciera with a 3.8. The battery is to the far right when you are looking under the hood. The big round thing is just behind the battery.

[GTP Dad]

Welcome to AF! The first thing to check is the battery. Try jumping the car with another one and if it starts then the battery is indeed dead and in need of a replacement. The other thing may be a bad ground where the black wire coming from the battery attaches to the block. If you suspect it is just the ground take a jumper cable from the black wire on the battery and attach it to the block if it starts then the ground wire is bad.

This sounds like a battery issue so rule that out first before going any further.

[ghostrdr]

it kind of sounds like the connections migh be corroded too. wiglling should do anything unless one is loose, or corroded. Unless of course one of the wires is cracked inside the covering. That happened on a 68 camaro of mine and I was stumped so I just started replacing everything til it was fixed. The round thing you talk about sounds like a starter solenoid, But I thought only ford made them separate from the starters.

[Slade901]

Do you have a digital camera? If so, take a picture of it and post it here. Aside from wiggling and tightening the battery connections, follow the red wire from the battery terminal posts as it usually goes into a another posts. It is usually called remote terminal where the battery red wire and starter wire, etc are further tied together and held down by a bolt/nuts. The nuts that holds those wires together usually comes loose over time and you will have problem starting it or making a clicking noise as sparks tries to jump on a loose connection.

[niemo810]

cherisciera: does it look like this?


http://www.gunsmoke.com/scot/r1200gs...ges/before.jpg

if so, that's a charcoal canister, part of your emissions control system. clicking is normal, especially in cold weather. i wouldn't worry about a thing.