Clicking sound when starting

On saturday my friend and I went on a road trip a few hours away to
Conneticut. We did some shopping and then when we ready to drive home
her car wouldn't start. It's a 2001 saturn(i can't remember the
model). All she got was a clicking sound. Immediately we checked to
make we didn't leave anything on in the car and found nothing.

Fortunately she had jumper cables so we asked someone in the parking
lot eventually for a jump. We figured that out but it didn't end up
getting her car started. We decided to call AAA and waited a while for
them. The guy jumped her car and it started pretty quick. Not sure why
it didn't work earlier, maybe we didn't wait long enough. The
headlights weren't dim and everything electrical worked fine so we
think it's not the alternator. We drove all the way home and didn't
turn off the car. The next day she replaced the battery and it was ok
after that. Yesterday her car wouldn't start again and someone
mentioned it was maybe the fuel pump instead.

Has anyone had a similar experience to this? Were there other issues
happening?

Thanks.

 

Sarah,

You really need to describe the symptoms better to provide much assistance.

When you try to start the vehicle and hear the "click" does the starter turn
the engine over or is there just silence afterward? If you hear a click
followed by nothing then based on what you have said and assuming the
battery is still fully charged the problem is probably the starter solenoid
(more likely), starter relay (less likely), or ignition switch (less
likely). Given that the battery cables were likely cleaned (with a wire
brush) before the new battery was installed, these can probably be ruled
out, although the battery cable connection at the starter itself could still
need a good cleaning as well.

If it is the starter solenoid, then you can generally keep re-trying and
eventually the solenoid plunger will "catch" and make good enough contact to
start the car. (This might explain why the tow truck driver was able to get
it started.) A way I've used to validate that it was the starter solenoid
was to have someone turn the key and hold in the start position while I was
reaching under the vehicle (be very careful if you try this) and lightly
taping on the starter itself. The vibration is usually enough to seat the
solenoid and engage the starter.

If the battery is run down (check the voltage) then the problem could also
well be a defective alternator.

As to this being a fuel pump, this would not prevent the starter from
turning over so if this is what you are seeing then the starter and solenoid
are fine and you need to look elsewhere, but keep in mind that fuel is just
one of three things required for combustion.

Good luck.

Bob

 

Did the shop that changed the battery check the charging system? They
should have. Could be loose belt or alternator.

 

Often a car will not start with the type of jumper cables most stores offer.
Many of the cables sold have very little copper conductor in them, often
only #10awg but they do have a misleading large thickness of plastic
covering. Cables like those are good only if you have a dead battery that
can be recharged. They don't carry enough current to start an engine. It may
take 20 minutes or more for the battery to charge enough to crank the
engine.
The jumper cables I have now are the largest ones that Sears sold, #4awg as
I recall. Even those are a bit skimpy for jump starting. I used to have a
set of cables that must have been #0 conductor and were heavy enough to
start a Cadallac on the first crank. Alas the insulation started to go on
those cables and I had to replace them.

If you have a voltmeter, the battery should measure about 12V with engine
off and full charge on battery. With engine running, you should get 13.8V or
thereabouts for a good charging system. From what I've read on the Saturns,
all sorts of strange stuff happens if the voltage is not good. Be sure to
check that first.
On cranking, battery voltage shouldn't fall below 8V.

Oppie

 

The fact that the car ran for a few days after you replaced the battery
points to a bad alternator. When you installed the new battery you had lots
of power but if the alternator was not working (usually the regulator inside
the alternator shorts out (a common occurrence in Saturns) ) This causes the
battery to discharge enough after a few days to leave you stranded again.
Get yourself a digital meter at an automotive store (they are very
inexpensive about $15) and then you can do the simple tests mentioned in the
previous tread and you can quickly tell what is the problem. It is a lot
cheaper then just guessing and buying different parts needlessly. It will be
also very useful in the future if you have any more electrical problems.
Alex