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If Your Engine Won't Start
Diagnosing why your engine won't
start falls into two areas, depending
on what you hear when you turn the
key to START (III):
You hear nothing, or almost
nothing. The engine's starter
motor does not operate at all, or
operates very slowly.
You can hear the starter motor
operating normally, or the starter
motor sounds like it is spinning
faster than normal, but the engine
does not start up and run.
Nothing Happens or the Starter
Motor Operates Very Slowly
When you turn the ignition switch to
START (III), you do not hear the
normal noise of the engine trying to
start. You may hear a clicking sound
or series of clicks, or nothing at all.
Check these things:
322
Taking Care of the Unexpected
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Check the transmission interlock.
The transmission must be in Park
or Neutral or the starter will not
operate.
Turn the ignition switch to ON (II).
Turn on the headlights and check
their brightness. If the headlights
are very dim or don't light at all,
the battery is discharged. See
Jump Starting
Turn the ignition switch to START
(III). If the headlights do not dim,
check the condition of the fuses. If
the fuses are OK, there is proba-
bly something wrong with the
electrical circuit for the ignition
switch or starter motor. You will
need a qualified technician to
determine the problem. (See
Emergency Towing
on page
323
.
The Starter Operates Normally
In this case, the starter motor's
speed sounds normal, or even faster
than normal, when you turn the
ignition switch to START (III), but
the engine does not run.
on page
338
.)
If the headlights dim noticeably or
go out when you try to start the
engine, either the battery is dis-
charged or the connections are
corroded. Check the condition of
the battery and terminal connec-
tions (see page
280
). You can
then try jump starting the vehicle
from a booster battery (see page
323
).
Are you using the proper starting
procedure? Refer to
Starting the
Engine
on page
210
.
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