Car won't turn over?

Question

I took my car to work yesterday. It drove perfectly fine all the way in. I also had to go to another building across the street for work, so I started my car and drove to my building to pick a few things up. When I started my car again it wouldn't start.

It was raining heavily yesterday, and I did go through some puddles that were unavoidable, so I thought it may have gotten wet and let it dry for a day. However it still doesn't turn over. The battery works fine. When I attempted to start the car, the lights go on, the air condition, and radio. So could it possibly be something else like the starter or alternator?

Answer 1

Maybe Either:

1) Battery

2) Solinoid Switch

3) Starter

I had the same problem. When I had a mechanic look at it and listen to it, these are the three he told me could be causing the problem. But my problem was the battery.

Answer 2

Get someone to jump start your car, if it starts and runs, replace the battery, yours sounds too weak to turn the starter, just enough juice to power up some dash lights and the heater fan.

Answer 3

Your best bet is to start with the most simple fixes.  It doesn't take much juice to run a radio, fan, and interior lights, so the battery may be close enough to dead that it needs a jump-start.  Try that.  If it still doesn't turn over, it could be the starter or the solenoid or just a bad connection between the battery and the starter or solenoid.  Your best bet in that situation would be to have a local mom-and-pop mechanic with a good reputation take a look at it.  They usually give free estimates.  Avoid the dealership unless the car is under warranty -- dealerships charge top-dollar and do crappy work.

P.S.:  A bad alternator will not prevent a car from starting.  An alternator is just a generator, and the car will run off the battery if the alternator is bad, but the battery will eventually be drained to the point where the car will stop and won't start again, so that's not it.  

Answer 4

maybe some cable issue. rain would not cause starter to malfunction  

Answer 5

1.the AC doesnt run without car running.[u mean fan]

2 just because lites go on that doesnt mean battery is good and cables are clean...start there

Answer 6

Possibly the starter sticking you'd know for sure if you tapped it with a hammer and it started right up.

Answer 7

clean and tighten the battery terminals, they might be dirty and not contacting. if you don,t mind getting a little dirty, then hit the starter, they stick sometimes.