How to determine if the car cannot start and whether it is caused by a low battery?

Not being able to start a car is a common malfunction, especially for older cars, which can easily occur. The most common reason for not being able to start is the battery running low, which is also the easiest way in rescue operations. Just use another vehicle with electricity to get it started, and the vehicle can continue to drive. For other reasons that cannot be ignited, it is generally impossible to solve the problem on site, and it is necessary to tow a trailer to the repair shop to find the fault. Today, let's talk about how to determine if the battery is running low or if there is a malfunction in other aspects when it cannot be started?

Generally, one can make a rough judgment by simply listening to the sound of the engine starting, rather than checking whether the headlights or instrument panel are on. Many people say that if their car cannot start, it is because the headlights are also on and the horn is sounding. Many experienced drivers used to make this judgment. In fact, using headlights and horns to determine whether the battery is charged is very inaccurate because they use very little electricity. Unless there is almost no electricity left, the headlights do not light up and the horns do not sound. If there is a little electricity, they will not have any abnormalities. The starter motor requires a large current, and if the battery voltage is slightly insufficient, it cannot rotate. A normal battery is 12 volts, and when the voltage is below 11 volts, the vehicle cannot be started.

In actual rescue operations, when the battery runs out of power, the vast majority of cars do not run out of battery, so the starter motor will still make a sound when starting. One is weak starting, with a loud clicking sound when starting normally. When the battery is low, the starter motor rotates noticeably weakly, rotates slowly, and the sound decreases. This is known as a battery low. The second issue is that when starting, only a popping sound will be heard, and then there will be no more sound, which is also a manifestation of battery depletion. If there is no sound when starting, but the instrument panel is dimmed and the headlights are also dimmed, it is a serious loss of battery power.

If the starter motor makes a normal sound when starting, it is not because the battery is running low, but because of other reasons that it cannot start. The most common reasons are two: severe or damaged carbon deposits on the idle motor or throttle valve, and damage to the gasoline pump. Nowadays, it is rare for ignition failures to cause ignition failure, as each spark plug is an independent ignition coil and will not be damaged simultaneously. How to determine if it is a malfunction of the idle motor or throttle? Just start the engine while repeatedly releasing the accelerator. If it is a malfunction of the idle motor, you can start it by pressing the accelerator. If it still cannot be started, you generally cannot solve it yourself. Just call for help.

There are also two situations where the ignition cannot be triggered due to improper operation, which can occasionally be encountered. One is that the automatic transmission car starts in D gear, but if it stops temporarily in D gear, it will immediately turn off. When starting again, if you forget that the gear is not in P gear, the ignition will fail to start. The second type is manual transmission. Vehicles that require pressing the clutch to start can also fail to start if they forget to press the clutch or if the clutch is not fully pressed due to thick foot pads or other reasons. When igniting in both cases, there is no sound and no response at all. In this unresponsive situation, the first consideration should be the issue of P gear and clutch.

From：WONDEE Auto parts

2024-6-27