QuestionWell,van i chose you you are one of my favorite ones on the list because you sound like a good person well i do not know why my car will not start is it because of the starter, the wires or the alternator,and my battery keeps losind its power is it because of the wires or something else if it is the wires where is it if it is something else where is it please tell me tomorrow because i won't it to start right away
thank you god bless you.
AnswerHello Alex,
It would help if you list more symptoms and conditions, and vehicle and engine information, but I will try here with what you gave.
You talk like you have two separate problems, but if your battery is being drained, that could be why it also won't start.
Wires usually are not a low battery problem, except for the battery cable connections. They need to be clean and tight.
I have seen people clean them without removing them from the battery, but that doesn't clean the area that needs it the most.
Remove the cables from the battery, and then remove the bolt from the cable end. It will pull out of there.
Look in the rubber cover where the cable joins to the battery. If there is corrosion, white powder looking stuff, etc, it needs to all be cleaned out of there.
The way I do it is I pry and peel the rubber cover back over the round metal lug, and while holding it pulled back, I use a wire brush, and running water from a hose. You may want to hold the cable with pliers, cause the wire brush can stick your fingers. But scrub and brush it till there is bare metal.
Clean the side of the battery, where the cable connects, to bare shiny metal also.
Those bolts can be replaced if they are corroded.
When they are clean, connect the positive back to the battery, but before connecting the negative, get a 12 volt test light. Connect one end to the cable, and touch the other end to the battery, where the cable connects.
If the light illuminates brightly, with everything in the car turned off, something is draining the battery.
One point here...if you have a relatively late model car, with a light timer for the inside lights, that test light will stay bright till the timer goes off, so you may need to hold the cable against the battery connection till the timer times out, then move it away from the battery, while leaving the test light connected thru that whole proceedure.
Then the test light should not be lit at all.
If it is, you can remove fuses till the light goes out, and your current draw will be in one of the circuits protected by that fuse.
That can be hard to do if the fuse block is under the dash, because you will need to disable the door open signal, in order to have the door open.
You can do that by opening the door, and then with a screwdriver, close the door latch. Then the timer will think the door is closed, and not try to turn on the dome light.
If your battery is several years old, you may want to have it tested at a parts house. They will do it for free, even in the car. They can test the alternator also.
Good luck,
Van
