Why is my car not doing anything when I turn the key?

Why is my car not doing anything when I turn the key?

If nothing happens when you turn the ignition key to the “Start” position, it means that the starter motor doesn’t turn over the engine. Most commonly this could be caused by a dead battery; read above How to check the battery. The ignition switch could be bad – it’s a common problem.

What happens when you turn the key on a car?

The higher rate of electricity gives the starter motor more “oomph” to turn the engine over. The process of starting the car begins at the ignition switch in the driver’s cockpit. The key turn completes a small circuit that tells the battery to release power to the starter solenoid.

How does a key turn work on a starter motor?

The key turn completes a small circuit that tells the battery to release power to the starter solenoid. The solenoid ramps up the power given to it and that power causes the starter motor to turn very quickly.

Why does the keyswitch not turn the starter?

They keyswitch may not be sending the signal to tell the battery to send juice to the starter, the battery may not be able to send enough power to the solenoid to turn the starter, the solenoid may not be ramping up the power given to it, or the starter may not be functioning and able to turn.

What happens when I turn the key on the starting circuit?

Now, thinking about that starting circuit, consider the things that could be going wrong to interfere with it.

Why does my car not start when I turn the key?

There are a lot of ways the cars can not start. One of the most annoying ways is when you turn the key and nothing happens. Also, you may have just changed the battery and have no reason to believe it is bad.

What happens to the engine when you turn the key?

Turning the engine causes the pistons to rise and fall in the engine block, activates fuel and spark, and (hopefully) ignition of the engine so that it begins running on its own without the starter motor turning it.

They keyswitch may not be sending the signal to tell the battery to send juice to the starter, the battery may not be able to send enough power to the solenoid to turn the starter, the solenoid may not be ramping up the power given to it, or the starter may not be functioning and able to turn.

How to diagnose no start, turn key and nothing happens?

Spark (Only gas engines need a spark, diesel engines need high compression and glow plugs in cold weather to start) Compression (without compression the engine will not run, or not have any power) To read my article where I really lay out the FastC method of diagnosing any no start condition read here.