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Car Not Starting, Clicking Sound But Starter Not Turning Over


Wouter Flerig
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Dear fellow KA owners/enthousiasts,

I have been driving my Ford KA (first car i owned) for about half a year now.

I never had any serious problems with it untill now. Today i wanted to drive to the store but my car wouldn't start. I did not hear the engine or starter turn over, but i did hear a ticking noise, which i believe comes from the relais to the starter engine.

I made videos of me starting the engine (both from the drivers seat and under the hood) to maybe help you guys pinpoint the problem.

View My Video

View My Video

All electrical things like radio/windows work so i know the battery is not dead (it's a battery that was installed when i bought the car). I did change the bulb in my left headlight the day before, but afterwards i drove to a friend and back without any problems. Is it possible that a wire was close to being disconnected because of my headlight fix and then disconnected due to vibrations when i was driving? Is this maybe a moisture issue in the distributor/starter (it has been raining the last few days)?

We have tried a few things, being:

- reconnecting the battery connections.

- putting it in second gear and pushing to turn over the starter one turn. This did change the sound a bit when i tried to start it afterwards, but then it almost instantly changed back to the old ticking noise.

- pushing the car with the clutch down and letting the clutch come up slowly to try and start it without the starter engine. This didn't work, but we only tried it once since it was just the 2 of us.

I have some knowledge of car engines since i study mechanical engineering, but i lack experience in the practical application, so any tips, help or suggestions on what to do would be appreciated very much!!

I don't have a multimeter right now, but will be able to get one tomorrow.

Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, i'm not a native English speaker ;)

Looking forward to a response and thanks in advance!

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Money is on a flat battery. A ticking noise from start is common place with this problem.

Thanks for your response Stef!

Do you mean too little power to get the starter going? if yes, would jumpstarting it with another car work?

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Could be one of the cells in the battery has died, had this before, it was okay to power the relatively low current drain of accessories, but when hit with the power needs of a starter motor produced nothing. Might just worth seeing if you can get a battery off another car if it will just fit in the space for a few seconds and try again to be sure.

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Could be one of the cells in the battery has died, had this before, it was okay to power the relatively low current drain of accessories, but when hit with the power needs of a starter motor produced nothing. Might just worth seeing if you can get a battery off another car if it will just fit in the space for a few seconds and try again to be sure.

Thanks for the response Richard.

Can i also test it with a multimeter?

If so, do i check the voltage or the amperage?

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Stick your multimeter on the battery as is, it's likely it will read quite low.

Yes you can connect up jump leads to another car, I prefer to leave the other car connected and running for a little while to charge the battery some before attempting to start

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sounds like a duff battery to me. just because the radio and other components work you cannot rule out the battery. it takes quite a lot out of a battery starting a car . just because the battery was replaced when you had the car does not meant it was a new battery or the correct one for your car.

i would get the battery changed then take car to someone that can test the altinator as that maybe on it's way out if its not charging the battery properly. if thats ok and you have the ticking still then its the starting motor that had it and needs changing.

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  • 8 months later...

You can't test a duff battery with a multimeter you need to put it under a high load and watch the voltage drop - garages have them or you can make one up yourself.

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You can't test a duff battery with a multimeter you need to put it under a high load and watch the voltage drop - garages have them or you can make one up yourself.

You can when you try to draw a high load from the battery.

And in any case, if you measure the voltage of a battery to be around say 10v for talking sake, with or without a load applied you can be quite sure it won't be starting your engine.

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I think thats what i just said "you need to put it under a high load and watch the voltage drop".

You can measure the voltage with a multimeter and it might say 12v but under load it will drop rapidly if there is a faulty cell.

Yes true on <11v.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-53090-Battery-Load-Tester/dp/B0001K9V8Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1441701651&sr=8-4&keywords=car+battery+load+tester

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Lets not argue - I was trying to explain to the poster who doesnt seem to know much about voltage and current in simple terms - what i was saying is that you can stick your probes on the terminals and measure it and it can say 12v but under load it wont be anywhere near that if a cell is gone.

Each cell has its own voltage and they are connected in series.

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Lets hope the original poster has got their car started now though anyway, this was started in December 2014. Hopefully not still probing about with a multimeter :lol:Or maybe they are haha

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lol yeah I didnt see the date but now that i have had a perusal it doesnt seem to be a very popular forum.

No wonder, the Streetka has been a nightmare for me!

I hate it when posters dont have the courtesy to reply and let everyone know the problem has been fixed or not!

Anyway I am out with my multimeter to test that damn MAP sensor this afternoon and hopefully get the thing started so i can get it to the white cliffs of dover - long drive from Glasgow.

Just look out for my youtube video "Streetka flys to France from the white cliffs of Dover".

lol

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lol yeah I didnt see the date but now that i have had a perusal it doesnt seem to be a very popular forum.

No wonder, the Streetka has been a nightmare for me!

I hate it when posters dont have the courtesy to reply and let everyone know the problem has been fixed or not!

Anyway I am out with my multimeter to test that damn MAP sensor this afternoon and hopefully get the thing started so i can get it to the white cliffs of dover - long drive from Glasgow.

Just look out for my youtube video "Streetka flys to France from the white cliffs of Dover".

lol

I'm quite looking forward to it :lol: :lol:
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Back to my Ford Escort MKII - Never were cars more reliable.

All this electronic gadgetry grrrrr

>;o)

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Escorts were rustbins - all of them :)

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Dear responders,

First of all i'd like to apologize for not responding to this post after receiving several tips from you, helpfull people.

As is turned out, the battery that the garage had put in half a year earlier (which they told me was new) was dull after all.

I managed to start it using different starter cables on a different car (I had tried it before and it didn't work) and drive it to the garage where they replaced the battery. This has solved the issue.

I'd again like to apologize for not posting this response earlier and want to thank all of you for taking the time and effort to help me with my problem, you rock!

cheers, Wouter

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Lol and the Ford Ka range arent rustbuckets?

That nasty petrol cap surround issue - nasty!

30 years on you would think they would have that problem licked!

Still more reliable than a computerised Ecu ccu laden electrical nightmare!

hmmmm

My Streetka is up the khyber already and has cost me more in 12 months than my Escort MK II and Lotus Excel Eclat and both are still going and both are 20 years older.

Even my Rover 820si has had fewer problems!

Proof of the pudding Mr Mondeo!

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The Ka's main problem is that there's too much FIAT in it

Frustrating Italian Auto Trash

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Cant disagree with that.

Cant even go uphill more than a 30 degree incline in a Fiat 500 apparently - lol great Italian design.

A bit like their military tanks - one forward gear and 10 reverse gears lol

My girlfriend even calls my Streetka a "pregnant rollerskate" - couldnt have put it better myself.

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