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Car Trouble
koiz
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello,
I drive a 2001 Chevy Malibu. Today on my lunch break i head out to my car and everything works fine. I run over to the near by target to pick some things up and probably wasnt even in there for 10 minutes. Now when i try to leave there my car wont start. It doesnt seem to be the battery because I can hear the engine trying to start, I have power windows working, radio is working, all things electric in the car seem to be working. Now I am not much of a car person so I am a little lost on what might be wrong with it. I was told it could be the alternator or maybe the spark plug is bad or something. Looking at the engine I dont even know where the spark plug is located in it. Any help would be great.
Thanks
I drive a 2001 Chevy Malibu. Today on my lunch break i head out to my car and everything works fine. I run over to the near by target to pick some things up and probably wasnt even in there for 10 minutes. Now when i try to leave there my car wont start. It doesnt seem to be the battery because I can hear the engine trying to start, I have power windows working, radio is working, all things electric in the car seem to be working. Now I am not much of a car person so I am a little lost on what might be wrong with it. I was told it could be the alternator or maybe the spark plug is bad or something. Looking at the engine I dont even know where the spark plug is located in it. Any help would be great.
Thanks
koiz on
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When you turn the key, is the engine turning over? Or do you just hear a clicking?
I had the same problem; even though everything in my car that was electric was working, windows and radio, I still used jumper cables to jump start my car for the hell of it, and my car started working.
Try boosting and if that works drive yourself to a garage and have them check the battery/alternator out for you.
Or conversely it could be that the battery is unable to hold a charge anymore.
So it's a tough call.
If that turns out to be the case, the battery is going dead.
If the car cranks over and over and over and over, and all the power features like windows and radio still work, this is probably not a problem with your battery or alternator.
If it was the batter, your car would turn over 2-3 times or possibly not at all, and very very slowly. If it was your alternator, your car would start and then eventually everything would get dim and the engine would die.
If your engine doesn't catch, it's usually not getting 1 of three things: Fuel, electricity, or air. If all your electrics seem to work fine with the key in the on position, and the engine turns over strongly when you attempt to start it, it's most likely fuel or air. Of those two, the system that provides the fuel is most likely to go bad quickly.
Take someone with you to your car. Open your gas cap, and put your ear right down by the nozzle. Have someone turn your key to the "On" position. NOT attempt to start/crank the engine, just flick it to the spot where your radio and windows would start working. When they do that, you should hear a faint mechanical whirring noise come out of your gas tank for just a second or so. That is your fuel pump. If that does not happen, your fuel pump may have died.
If it does make noise, it could be a blockage/leak in your fuel line. If you can find your fuel filter (You'll have to google, i dont know exactly where/what it looks like on a malibu) you can disconnect the fuel line from the "downstream" end of it and try to turn the engine over again. If nothing comes out, you need to replace the filter ,if you disconnected the end coming out of the filter.
If its not one of thoes things, it could be electrical, and you may need to look at involving a mechanic.
Fuel system problems like that can occur suddenly. I used to own an 86 towncar. While driving, someone pulled out in front of me, forcing me to swerve. When I did, my car died. Just stopped running, immediately. Apparently when I swerved some little piece of plastic broke off/floated into my fuel pump and jammed it. Stuff like that happens. I'd start looking at your fuel system, at any rate.
For your situation (turning off a car that's working fine, then not being able to start it), the most likely cause is a bad battery or alternator. A battery can be strong enough to operate the internal electronics, but not strong enough to crank the starter motor. If when you try to start it, you only hear a click or nothing at all, that's probably it. Hoever, if you turn the key and hear a cycling sound (about 1 to 2 cycles every second), then the starter motor is successfully cranking your engine, so forget the battery and alternator - its something else, so lets move on.
You need 3 things for a engine to run.
- Fuel
- Ignition Source
- Compression (physical environment)
Compression problems are the least likely, as it means pistons have holes, valves are stuck open, or some other physical damage has occured to the engine. Plus, engines have multiple cylinders, so even physical damage would be more likely to cause the engine to run terribly, rather than not at all. If it was just driving fine earlier, you can likely rule this out.
Ignition issues refer to the spark plugs (yes, multiple.. 1 for each cylinder in your 4 or 6 cylinder Malibu). The spark plugs need to spark strong and at the correct time. The spark plugs are wired to ignition coil packs (which generate the bursts of electricity the spark plugs deliver), and are timed by the cars computer. Again, you have multiple, so a single bad spark plug is more likely to cause the engine to run terribly than not at all. The redneck way to test this is to pull one of the plugs, leaving the wire connected, and hold it by the threads against something metal (grounded), and crank the engine and watch for spark. If all the plugs spark, ignition is fine (assuming timing isn't bad). BTW, don't touch the wire as well, unless you want a nice jolt
The most likely cause is fuel related. Assuming you're not out of gas, the fuel is either not being pumped to the engine, or the fuel injectors are not properly mixing (with air) and delivering the fuel to the cylinders. The most common causes for this is a plugged fuel filter or air filter, but again, these both are usually preceeded by poor engine performance. As Erandus said, turn the key to "ON" and listen for the whirring/buzzing noise. It only lasts a second or two, and its the sound of the fuel pump pressurizing the system. Its absense means the fuel pump is bad.
Beyond that, more extensive diagnostics and testing would need to be done, as its probably a more complicated problem.
Good luck.