Hi, the other day I tried to start my car but it wouldn't start. When i tried to start it, nothing happened, so i figured it was the battery. I got a jump and it started and i drove it around to charge it, but today i tried again, and when i tried to start it all i heard was a really fast clicking sound. It wasnt the same as the first time, because i could turn the radio and lights on, except the engine wouldn't fire up. Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks

 

Thats the sound it makes when your battery is too low to turn the starter over but not completely dead. It's also not a good idea to charge a battery from the alternator if its dead.

It sounds like your battery is giving out, you should take it to autozone (or whatever store you prefer) and have them test it. If the battery turns out to be good then I'd look for any shorts that would be draining it.

 

I thought when the battery is low it makes a slow clicking sound like click....click....click,but my car makes it really fast like a machine gun,the engine just wont fire up. But i'll take the battery to autozone just to see, since i cant drive the whole car over there.

 

It's the solenoid that makes the sound, when you turn the key it *clicks* and gives power to the starter. When you have a low battery though the starter puts too much of a load on the battery and the solenoid doesnt get enough power to hold itself in the "on" position so it clicks back, and it repeats that back and forth.

As a proof of concept you can put a battery charger on the battery and turn it to the engine start setting and try to crank the engine. It should crank just fine at that point, still dont drive it around until you get the problem fixed so something else doesnt break though.

 

Alright, thanks. I'll go check the battery out soon.

 

It could also be the starter.

That happened to my wife's Jimmy about a month ago. Put a brand new battery and it kept making that ticking sound. Changed the starter and it was solved.

 

I just bought a brand new battery and it started up...so im good right now...but if the battery dies soon, is that a sign the alternator is bad?