# Your car does not start, what do you often check?



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

#1 points to a *no crank* problem not a *no start* problem so as on Shark Tank - i'm out.


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## surferdude2 (Nov 21, 2019)

SeniorSitizen said:


> #1 points to a *no crank* problem not a *no start* problem so as on Shark Tank - i'm out.


Back before the word crank get co-opted by an urban slang meaning, it often referred to a tool that came with a new car. The model A Ford had a crank that also had a lug nut wrench on the other end.



My dad once jacked up the truck (42 Ford) and put it in high gear and was able to turn the rear wheel and get the engine started (we didn't call them motors back then). He was my hero.


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## TarheelTerp (Jan 6, 2009)

"It's always the battery"


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## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

surferdude2 said:


> get the engine started (we didn't call them motors back then). He was my hero.


Well "technically" a motor is a machine that converts other forms of energy into mechanical energy, motor as in motion is required for that to happen.

But an engine is also a motor but it converts thermal energy to mechanical work.

So they are both motors....but an engine is a motor that doesn't run on electricity.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

Some of it is old outdated advice.

Modern fuel injected cars rarely if ever flood. In the days of carburetors, a flooded car could be started by holding the gas pedal to the floor and turning it over.
With coil on plug coil packs, pulling the plugs is not as easy as it used to be. And modern aluminum cylinder heads have plug holes that sometimes strip out easily. I would not pull the plugs.


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## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

All of these issues can be solved with one phone call to AAA.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Old Thomas said:


> Some of it is old outdated advice.
> 
> Modern fuel injected cars rarely if ever flood. In the days of carburetors, a flooded car could be started by holding the gas pedal to the floor and turning it over.
> With coil on plug coil packs, pulling the plugs is not as easy as it used to be. And modern aluminum cylinder heads have plug holes that sometimes strip out easily. I would not pull the plugs.



Maybe they do in China?


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## surferdude2 (Nov 21, 2019)

Old Thomas said:


> ... modern aluminum cylinder heads have plug holes that sometimes strip out easily. I would not pull the plugs.


And if you don't think a spark plug can be twisted off, especially so on aluminum heads, I hope you never learn that the hard way. :wink2:


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## surferdude2 (Nov 21, 2019)

Nik333 said:


> Maybe they do in China?


I also thought the pidgin grammar pointed similarly. Spammers know no bounds and their conquests know no borders.


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## TRI0N (Aug 9, 2020)

TarheelTerp said:


> "It's always the battery"


Unfortunately not... Your starter could be defective and not engaging. It could be your ground being loose and covered in grease and oil. Could be a lot a things even your ignition.

Cheers!

TRI0N :vs_cool:


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## surferdude2 (Nov 21, 2019)

Re: Your car does not start, what do you often check?

What is check engine light, Alex? :vs_smirk:


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

If it turns over but won’t start I hook up a scanner.


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## surferdude2 (Nov 21, 2019)

Old Thomas said:


> If it turns over but won’t start I hook up a scanner.


Me too! If you're smarter than the average bear, the scanner can be helpful. It's like getting answers on the internet, you have to know how to harvest the information and winnow out the chaff.


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## seharper (Mar 17, 2020)

@jeffrey1 This post is one of the other posts I was talking about. I saw several more just like it from other posters, but I flagged them as spam so the system won't show them to me now.

These types of posts are very unusual; this batch is the first I've seen all year.


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## thegapbridger (Aug 11, 2020)

seharper said:


> @jeffrey1 This post is one of the other posts I was talking about. I saw several more just like it from other posters, but I flagged them as spam so the system won't show them to me now.
> 
> These types of posts are very unusual; this batch is the first I've seen all year.


That's interesting!


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## carmusic (Oct 11, 2011)

#5 is only for very old cars, modern one doesn't care if you "pump" the pedal, it just control the throttle body


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