Hey Veeky Forums, /b/ here: My 91' escort is giving me problems and i'm not exactly auto-proficient...

Hey Veeky Forums, /b/ here: My 91' escort is giving me problems and i'm not exactly auto-proficient. It has gas and power is getting to the radio and auto seatbelts. but whenever i try to start the engine, all i hear is a single click (sounding like it's coming from the drivers side of the engine) and then nothing. I have done nothing since the last time i drove it, except put gas in it from a gas can i have at home. Any ideas Veeky Forums?

So it doesn't crank? Could be as simple as a (nearly) dead battery.

Battery or starter
If it tries to crank it could be fuel pump some fuel issue

Have a family member or friend come with their car, and connect booster cables to jump the battery. For reference the order goes 1.) Red on loaner battery positive termal (it's red) 2.) Red on dead battery (yours) 3.) Black on loan battery negative terminal (it's black) 4.) Black on an unpainted, bare piece of metal in the engine bay to act as a ground (or I've seen people put it on the negative terminal of the dead battery)


Let it run for a couple of minutes with the cables connected, and undo the cables in the reverse order. Keep the car running afterwards, and drive it around for a bit so the electrical system builds a charge. Hell, while your at it, drive to an Advance Auto Parts and have them do a free battery test for you.

If it's not battery dead, give the starter a few strong whacks with something

Test voltage at the battery. If its ~13 it is most likely your starter/solenoid. If it is

Check your fuses, user. The click sounds like the relay is trying to send power without results. If they're good, then check the starter and cables.

Not OP, but would like to test voltage of my battery as well. Pic related is the free multimeter I got from HF the other day. What setting should I put it on? How would I use it to test the battery? I assume the red stick to the positive terminal and the black stick to the negative terminal? I assume I should I disconnect the the harness to each end of the battery?

Oops, forgot pic

>free
Black goes in COM
Red goes in the closest to COM first.
Turn on.
Set to DC 10V
Black on (-)
Red on (+)
Get reading
Now move Red to the other plug in on mm
Set to DC 200A
Hold black to (-)
WARNING NEXT STEP YOU ONLY HAVE 2 SECONDS TO DO
put red on (+), get reading and pull off, wires and mm will get HOT
Compare reading* to CCA, must be at least 70%

*the reading is in 200A units so multiply your result by that before comparison

thanks m8

Careful testing battery amps. Those cheapies will literallyburst into flame if you hold 'em on too long. But they lack a fuse, so you can do it at all, ya know? And its no big loss when they break.
They tend to stay fairly accurate throughout their [short] lives however.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, just personal experiences.

A single click sounds like either the starter relay or starter solenoid getting powered. Usually a dead battery will cause slow cranking or repeated clicking of the solenoid.

So either the solenoid contacts are no longer sending power to the starter motor or there's another fault in the circuit.

I suggest searching how to test for a bad starter/solenoid and also the starter curcuit

Even if it's the solenoid and the starter itself is fine, you have to replace the whole starter. They don't sell the solenoid separate anymore. Went through that on my Saturn. Starter was fine, solenoid failed.

Turn dial to DCV 20
Put red probe on positive battery terminal, black probe on negative battery terminal
No need to disconnect anything, just check the voltage with the vehicle off. 12.6V or higher is the nominal voltage for a car battery, below that and you either have a bad battery or your alternator isn't charging the battery for some reason.

> 91
It's dead. Scrap it, buy a reliable car.

>Scrap it, buy a reliable car.
How much are your monthly lease payments?

>implying things

OP here, thanks for all the responses! Was truly not expecting such an immediate response and the only reason i haven't replied yet is because i had to meet a friend with my dads car. Just going to let it sit for now and tinker with it tomorrow. I'm definitely leaning towards the battery but i'll let you guys know when i know. Thanks again, you guys fucking rock

We have our moments.

Yes sir, you do!