I’d always recommend trying to get a jump start first. If that doesn’t get you going, it’s probably the starter. Almost any neighbor or even someone in the parking lot will usually be glad to jump you.Normally, when you start a car, you turn the key, you hear a little whirr, whirr, whirr, and then the engine fires up and runs. What happens when you turn the key? If it grinds and whines and sounds a little like a siren, or else doesn’t do ANYTHING or just clicks a few times, THEN FINALLY STARTS OK, and over time needs more and more tries with the key, the starter is going out. You’ll want to get it replaced before it strands you. If it does nothing but click, or nothing, and doesn’t start after turning the key multiple times, it’s usually a dead battery or just corrosion on the battery connections. A dead battery caused usually by the leaving the lights or radio on overnight. You can check them, the switches will still be on. If your battery has top posts, you can pull the cable connections and be sure they are shiny inside and out, scraping them with a key, a screwdriver, knife, or the correct tool, a $2.50 battery terminal brush from WalMart or the parts store, reconnect them, and get a jump start and try again. Also, a dead battery can be caused by a worn-out alternator failing to charge it, but this would have been signalled by the “Battery” or “Alternator”, etc., warning light staying on on the dash all the time while the car was running, and surely you would have noticed that. If the electrical charging system warning light wasn’t staying on all the time while the engine was running, and the TOP battery and cable connections (side posts don’t corrode much) have been cleaned, and you jumped it off and it STILL was dead the next time, the problem is probably a bad battery. If the car goes whirr, whirr, whirr when you turn the key but just won’t “catch” and keep running, it is usually because of being out of gas or needing a tuneup or, if the car is out in sub-freezing weather, having water in the gas line frozen and blocking it. If the weather is sub-freezing, you may have to tow it to a warm garage to thaw the water in the gas line, drain the line, change the gas filter and try again. Even in warm weather, it’s possible to get water in the tank from a contaminated gas station, it happened to me once, about five hours of driving after I bought gas at a different station.You can get brief, concise, step-by-step steps to diagnose any engine’s failure to start in the front of any Haynes auto repair manual under “Troubleshooting”, available at most auto parts stores for about $16, or online by searching on Yahoo under “auto repair manuals”. The most important and basic first steps are pretty universal. If you can’t find the manual for your model, any similar model will have the same information.Best regards,Mike...
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