99 Mercury Mountaineer (8cy auto) So I went to my car to get ready to pick up my boys from school and the car wouldn't turn over. Battery terminals are tight (just recently bought a negative lead connection). Nothing was left on so really don't think it was a no power situation. Got my wife's car to jump me but same story, wouldn't turn over (like a split second tut tut but that's it). Any ideas? Would this be like a starter situation?
The solenoid is not getting enough amperage from the battery, I would get the battery tested to rule that out. It could be you starter.
How long did you leave your wife's car hooked up to yours? Sounds like your battery is bad and won't hold a charge. That's going to be your cheapest fix, so I would start with that.
Maybe 5 minutes. I had always assumed once a car is being jumped, it creates a new bridge for a power source to start from??
really? you came to clutchfans before testing the battery? I know it's a great place and all... but...
i would re-check all connections(both sides of negative lead) and then use a volt meter and read what your battery voltage is.
Does it crank? If it doesn't crank, do you hear a continuous clicking from under the hood? How did you figure that out? Team Blurr#7 here.
battery was old so just decided to get a new one anyway it cranks now though. instead of a tut tut, it will cranks for a lil. jumping did nothing.
You shouldn't have bought a new battery, because as you noticed while trying to jumpstart your car, it didn't help. At that point, you were using your wife's car's battery power to try to start yours, and it failed. The still present problem will only drain the new battery. It's something other than the battery... there is either a short somewhere, your solenoid is fried, or the cables aren't reaching power to the starter. Get the car to someone who knows car electricity... you may need to replace more than just the solenoid and cables. Like I said before, Blurr#7 had the answer. How a Solenoid Works: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pSrHs87TEKQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pSrHs87TEKQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Starting and electrical workings of a vehicle and replacement: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/azAnf8_dT_A?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/azAnf8_dT_A?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> GOOD TEST here for the SOLENOID: <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ngsXFJ9Gpu4?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ngsXFJ9Gpu4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> I realize you may not have these tools, and stuff, but you can see how it works.
