It clicks when I turn the key but will not start
A click is the most useful noise a car that will not start can make, because it means the electrical side is awake: something received the signal and physically moved. What it does not tell you is whether the problem is the supply or the starter. A single loud clunk with no crank usually points at the starter or its solenoid; rapid machine-gun clicking is the classic signature of not enough current to turn the engine, which is a battery, a connection or the charging system rather than the starter itself. Both feel identical from the driver’s seat, and the wrong guess is expensive — a starter fitted to a car whose real fault was a corroded earth strap will still not start, and the money is gone.
What to do right now
It is not going anywhere
Stop turning the key. Every attempt drains what charge is left and, if the starter is the fault, heats a motor that is already struggling. A jump start is worth one try — and if it fires and then dies again the moment the leads come off, that is information worth having and worth telling us. If it does not fire, leave it: repeated attempts on a car with a supply or earth fault achieve nothing and can damage electronics. We collect cars that will not move, which is what the collection service is for.
How we find out which one it is
Alternator, starter, wiring, earths and battery drain — traced with a meter.
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01
The supply is proved before anything is blamed
Battery condition and charging output come first, because almost every strange electrical symptom in a car can be produced by a weak battery or a poor earth. A healthy 12 V battery sits around 12.6 V at rest, and charging voltage with the engine running normally lands between about 13.5 and 14.8 V.
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02
A drain is a number, not an opinion
The car has to be left long enough for its modules to shut down, which on some cars takes the better part of an hour, and only then does the meter reading mean anything. Once we have the figure we pull fuses one at a time until it drops, which names the circuit.
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03
We test connections under load
A corroded terminal reads perfectly with a meter until current flows through it. Voltage drop testing puts the circuit under its working load and shows where the voltage is being lost. It is the difference between finding a bad earth and replacing a good starter motor.
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04
Repair the wire, not just the part
Where a loom is chafed or a connector has corroded we repair and protect the joint properly instead of taping over it and calling it done. A connector packed with grease to hide green corrosion is a fault that comes back in the next humid month.
Other complaints with a page
- White smoke comes out of the exhaust Thin vapour on a cold start is normal. White smoke that continues warm, hangs in the air and smells faintly sweet is coolant — and the car will still drive perfectly while it happens.
- A humming noise that gets louder with speed A drone rising with road speed, not engine speed, comes from something turning with the wheels — a bearing or a tyre wear pattern. The steering test that often separates them.
- The brakes squeal in the morning and then stop A squeal that clears after the first few stops is usually overnight moisture on the discs. A wear indicator sounds similar and means the opposite — the difference is the pattern.
- The revs rise but the car does not speed up Slipping is self-worsening: the slip makes heat, heat cooks the fluid, and cooked fluid cannot hold the pressure that stops the slip. Why the distance driven decides the bill.