When Your Car Won't Start it May Be Time for a Car Repair

You may not realize how much you count on your car until you try to start it and your engine won't turn over. If your car has left you stranded it doesn't matter if it has stranded you in your driveway, at work or in a parking lot at the grocery store- you are temporarily out of commission and left with visions of tow trucks and high car repair bills running through your head.

Before you completely panic though- there are a few common reasons that your car may not start that are quick and easy fixes and you should consider these first before you look at other less common and more expensive reasons your car has left you stranded. The most obvious reason your car won't start is a dead battery. If a jump start doesn't get your car going again the other alternative car repair problems that you could be facing include a faulty starter or a dead alternator. It can be hard to make a field diagnose without a mechanic to help you determine which one of these two problems is the likely culprit but if you know the symptoms of both you may be able to make an educated guess.

If you have a faulty starter you will hear a clicking or grinding sound when you turn the car key and the engine will fail to turn over. You may even smell a burnt odor or see white smoke come from the starter indicating that the starter motor is defective.
And unlike a bad starter that may give you a few warnings before it just completely dies on you, a bad alternator is one car repair problem that you may not get any red flags or warnings about at all. Your car may simply not start back up after you park it in your driveway or the parking lot at the mall.

And since your alternator is responsible for supplying your car with power, if it's dead in the water your car won't have any power so you won't have any headlights or radio power. On the other hand with a dead battery you probably notice that you still have a working car radio and possibly some headlight power left. This is a good way to identify if your problem is the battery or worse- the alternator.

Other lesser known root causes that can cause your car to not start include a faulty distributor cap, coil wire, fuel pump and relay or a dirty fuel pump filter. You will probably have to get your car towed if it's not a dead battery and let your mechanic go through your car with a checklist to look at the most obvious problems first and work down to these less likely causes.

In the end, once your back on the road again, you can breathe a little easier knowing your car is statistically less likely to leave you stranded again and you it may even be a more reliable ride now.