Help car wont start, making a clicking noise!

Ebenezer_Scrooge_2

Tried to start my vw golf this morning just making a loud click, battery is fine, cant see any stray wires. Click, click, click it goes :mad:

Inactive

Sounds like a loose battery lead to me, I may be wrong.;)

Conor_3

A couple of possibilities.
No1 choice as it seems to happen to batteries that were close to failing this time of year is a flat battery - enough to put the lights on but not enough to run the starter motor.
No.2 choice is a duff starter motor.
No.3 choice is a dodgy earth wire to the engine.

Ebenezer_Scrooge_2

Is it possible the starter may be stuck then?

Careful_with_that_Axe

Sounds like starter motor. Put the car in gear and make sure you take the handbreak off. Rock the car backwards and forwards - a couple of hefty men to help ideally. After 6/7 rocks, take out of gear, apply handbreak and try to start it. This used to work for me when my starter motor was dodgy.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Forgot to say good luck!

Inactive

Have you tried just giving the battery connections a slight twist?

Worth a try.

Ebenezer_Scrooge_2

Turned on the lights, seem ok, and when trying to start the starter makes a crackly noise. Im afraid i might short something if i keep trying to start it.
Can i take the starter out and clean/grease it or will it be duff for sure?

zeon999

I would say its the battery dont have enough juice, just cos the lights work dont mean naf all, get it fully charged and try again.

If that dont work then its gonna be the starter motor sometimes giving it a wack will free it up if its sticking, make sure not to go near the terminals on the solenoid though if you try hitting it cos it has a perm live feed to it aswell, but it may just need replacing.

Wig

Get a jump start from a donor vehicle to rule out the battery before doing anything else.

If it starts it's your battery - charge it
If it gives the same problem - Might be the starter motor/solenoid
Some people put a pair of screwdrivers across the solenoid terminals get a big spark and that seems to fix it, I don't know exactly what they are doing, but it works. <<< yeah forgot to say, don't ever try this unless you know what you are doing!

When was the last time you used the VW Golf?

cyclonebri1

Don't forget we've just had 2 or 3 of the coldest nights of the winter this week, (I know 'cos I was out fishing in -12*C yesterday at 6am, prat):rolleyes:

Most likely battery is a goner, due as Wig says and jump it.