It clicks and will not start: battery, alternator or starter

Start with the sound

One loud click and then nothing usually means the battery cannot spin the starter. Fast repeated clicking is the same problem a little further along. A strong healthy crank that never fires is a different family altogether, and that one is fuel or spark, not the battery.

Watch the dash while you turn the key. Lights that go dim or drop out completely point at the battery or at its cables before anything else. Lights that stay bright while the engine does nothing point somewhere else.

Battery or alternator, without guessing

• • Dead overnight, jumps and runs fine That is the battery, or something small draining it while the car sits.
• • Jumps, then dies again a few miles down the road That is the alternator. The car was running on what the jump gave it and it ran out.
• • Headlights dim at idle and brighten when you rev Charging system. Belt, alternator, or a bad ground strap.
• • Clicks with the dash lights still bright Often the starter itself, and the battery gets replaced for nothing.

These two get mistaken for each other constantly. The tell is when the car dies, not how it dies.

A free counter test is not a diagnosis

The tester at a parts counter reads the battery with the engine off. It will not see a drain pulling the battery down overnight, a corroded ground strap, or an alternator that only quits once it gets hot. We have pulled out perfectly good batteries that somebody replaced because a cable end was doing all the damage.

There is also the obvious problem. A car that will not start does not drive to the counter.

We test it where it sits

Driveway, apartment lot, the Peachtree Mall lot, a work lot on the Alabama side, a school pickup line. We bring the tester and the parts to the car instead of the car to a shop.

Common battery sizes ride on the van, so no-start calls are one of the things we finish same-day more often than not. If yours is an odd size we go get it and come back.

Frequently Asked Questions