why won't my car start?

We just came back from 2 weeks holidays, during which time our 93
civic was sitting quietly in the garage. This morning it won't
start. The lights come on, but nothing from the starter at all.

 

Its mad at you for leaving it all alone for two whole weeks!

(always wanted to give a silly answer!)

-SP

 

charge your battery. There might be enough juice to power the lights
but not enough to crank the starter.

 

Okay -- we have it set up with a charger, and will see what happens in
the morning.

thanks.

 

Nope -- still nothing!

 

You're going to have to be more detailed about the exact symptoms that
occur when you try to start the car.

Turn on the dome light in the ceiling. When you turn the key to "start",
what happens to the dome light? Does it dim just a little? Does it dim a
lot? Does it go out almost entirely?

Do you hear a click from the engine compartment when you turn the key to
"start"?

Are the battery terminals covered in fuzzy white stuff?

Did this problem happen out of the blue, or were there some kind of
problems earlier?

 

99% of the time this happens it's the battery, particularly if the
battery is like 4 years old or so. contributing factors may be bad
(loose and or corroded) connection to the battery, however, which
further reduces the insufficient current.

 

I thought that somebody had knitted the car a battery terminal cozy.

 

Update here: this morning the tow truck came to take the car to the
Honda shop. It started up right away. Go figure. DH drove it to the
shop, where the mecahnic said he'd have to take it all apart to
diagnose, and that would be expensive and iffy at best -- no
guarantees of getting an answer.

 

Don't pay a mechanic to diagnose this - especially one who wants to
take it all apart. Just make sure you've got good contact at your
battery posts and that your battery will hold a charge. There is a
slight possibility that your alternator or something else went bad
while you were away, but odds are it is just a weak battery.

Next time you go on an extended vacation disconnect your battery or
have a friend start your car for a few minutes each day.