Ok my mom's van wouldnt start. Its a dodge grand caravan. I think its a 2001. Anyways when she tried turing it on, it just clicks. Inside the car lights up and everything, so i thought i would look at the spark plus, which looked ok. Then i tried it start it again and i noticed that the radio wouldnt even come on. I turned it off, waited a couple of minutes, turned the battery on and and i tunred the lights on and the windshield wipers and the inside lights on the odometer started to the blink and the winishield wipes moved very slow.
So i figure its the battery. But if its the battery, why did it still turn all of the lights on and stuff? Hopefully that is the only thing wrong. Would you guys agree its just the battery?
I'd say fuel pump. An engine needs 2 things to run Gas and Spark and it's a pretty good bet it has something to do with what controls either one.
sound slike thatrter... especially since it clicks but doesn't crank
It might be those things, but i just tured the battery on again, tunred the lights on, and everything went off. I turned the lights off and everything turned on very dim. The battery does look like acid leaked out too. So yeah, i'm leaning towards battery.
Thanks though.
but if its just clicking....then its more than likely the starter.
Its not even trying to crank?
It's not the starter or anything else but the battery. The juice needed to start the car is much greater than the juice to run accessories. You have a dead battery. You need to find out if the battery itself went bad or if the alternator is the culprit. Either slow charge the battery or use jumper cables to see if it will start. You can also take it to one of the parts stores and they will check your battery for free to see if it is good or not.
Thanks guys. I took the battery to a car battery place and they checked it. They said it was bad, so i needed to buy a new one. It runs now.
If the alternator went bad, is there a light that would come on or something? I know i can use a volt meter to see if its working, but i dont have one. Any ideas?
crackajax wrote:Thanks guys. I took the battery to a car battery place and they checked it. They said it was bad, so i needed to buy a new one. It runs now.
If the alternator went bad, is there a light that would come on or something? I know i can use a volt meter to see if its working, but i dont have one. Any ideas?
The battery light would come on, so it looks like it was only the battery.
