Car won't start

[iamcalledtom]

This is a stupid question I think. My car is a 93 chevy caprice. Several days ago the battery warning light came on--I ignored it because I hadn't seen a problem. Yesterday I am about to park my car and the radio starts going in and out. I park, and since then my car won't start now.

The lights and radio will still come on in my car.When I crank it, it makes a tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-sound as long as I have the key turned.

I don't have a bad connection with the cable terminals on the battery--thinking they might be corroded I took them off and scrubbed them down with baking soda. They looked good anyway. A couple people I know told me this is the battery that has gone bad. That is fine, but the battery has died before and it didn't happen like this. Before when the battery died, it died without warning, the lights wouldn't come on, and it made just one "tat" for every time i turned the key, no repeated tat-tat-tat back then.

I am asking this because if I just have a dead battery I don't want to get my car towed off somewhere. Thanks for any help out there. (Plus I don't want to just jump the car, because of how the problem came up, I think a jump would just be a temporary fix--better to just buy a battery).

Thanks for any help.

(PS, I got a new starter a few months ago--the alternator is still the original I think.)

[fishdude84]

ok i dont know too much about cars, but if the engine keeps turning over, and the radio and lights come on then i dont think the battery is dead. you say it goes "tat tat tat tat" when you turn it over, that means the battery is still pushing electric current to the starter motor. you may have an electrical problem, or the idle on the engine may not be set, or the throttle cable broke. thats what happened to my 94 caprice, the cruise control cable(which i think is what holds the engine at idle when you dont press the gas pedal) broke and the car had no idle, and would not start, but turned over and wanted to start like yours. i rigged it up and it starts now. look under your hood where the throttle linkage is by the throttle body, and make certail all cables are in tact and properly connected, if that is the case and all looks well under the hood, then you may have an internal electrial problem, perhaps a short, and in that case i would have QUALIFIED mechanic(not your uncle joe) look at. hope that helps

Alex

[MrSag]

Could be the fuel pump.

[88sleeper]

you may want to check the starter motor itself sometimes the contacts for the motor sceze up but the throw out mechanisum still works...have someone turn the car over and search for the TAT sound...if it sounds like its comming from the underside its most likly the starter also you may want to try a batt you know is good my caprice's stater went out and the batt didnt have enough juice to get it to turn over but a newer batt did the job becuase it was fresh...alot of times starters dont just stop working they do weird stuff like what you described id try a fresh batt from another vehical and if that doesnt fix it try a new starter it could also be your ignition circut from the columb itself but most likely the starter wow i said starter alot

[MrSag]

Oh... so the engine does not turn over, right?

[Incitatus]

I really don't think it's the fuel pump, accelerator cable or anything else mentioned
(no disrespect intended to those who suggested those possibilities).

I think it's likely to be your accessory post near the underhood fuse panel.
It's located on the passenger side near the hood hinge.
(They may or may not have had those in '93)

-or-

It could very well be a dead or weak cell in your battery.
That's easy enough to have checked -Go to nearly any auto parts store and ask them to check your battery. They'll use a carbon-pile tester and it'll give you a definitive answer.


As far as the accessory post goes, we had a thread concerning that not long ago. See if you can go back through some older threads and find it.