Why won't my car start

One of the reasons that your car will not start may be that it has run out of battery. The most likely causes are that it ran out of power, for example, if you left the lights on with the engine off, or maybe the battery is damaged. You should take your car to a mechanic to determine the reason for the loss of power.

In this article we explain how to start a car when the battery is dead. However, most insurance policies include this service for free. To avoid this happening to you, you must carry out good battery maintenance.

If your car will not start it could be that it has run out of fuel. If you have recently fuelled up at the petrol station you may have a leak in the fuel tank. You can easily check this by looking at the ground under the engine. If there is a leak there will be a fuel stain from the leak's drip.

Your mechanic an resolve the problem, which is not very common but can occur when something like a stone hits the tank. If you have no fuel because you forgot to fill up in time you must walk to a gas station and take fuel back in an suitable container. You will need at least the necessary amount to drive to the closes petrol station.

A broken ignition switch can also cause the car to not start. This piece is part of the ignition system and is responsible for providing an electrical signal to the starter when the key is pressed. This is how the ignition process begins in starting the motor. If you do not notice any noise when you turn the key the most probable cause of the car not starting is a broken switch. Your mechanic should confirm this and resolve the matter.

If after turning the key the normal ignition process starts but then the car's engine fails to start you may be facing a problem with the spark plugs. These could be either clogged or dirty. The cleaning or replacing of a spark plug is not very complicated, so you can take it out if you want to avoid spending money in the garage.

You may find the cause of your car not starting is the starter relay. It is a part that only costs around 20 euro, so if you take it to the mechanic you will not have to pay loads to have it fixed. This component of the vehicle is responsible for sending power to the starter motor, so any failure will cause the car to not start.

To avoid situations like this where your car will not start, give your car a good check up every two years or 40,000 kilometres.

If you want to read similar articles to Why won't my car start, we recommend you visit our Car Maintenance and Repair category.