If you are certain that it is not a weak or dead battery that is causing this problem, you need to act fast. Working through the list of possible faults is the best way to pinpoint an accurate diagnosis, and once you have discovered what’s going wrong you can then try to figure out how to fix it. It sounds like you could be having a problem with your ignition switch. If the battery is fine but the car stays silent when you start it, the ignition switch could be faulty. Turning the key to the ‘on’ position should bring up the red warning lights on the dashboard, but if they don’t then the ignition switch is faulty. Switch on the headlights and when you try to start the car, the lights should dim or turn off completely. If they do, then the ignition switch should be OK. If the lights remain the same, then the switch needs replacing.
If it doesn’t look like the problem is the ignition switch, there are plenty of other faults to check for. While not many modern cars have a fuse that is linked to the car starting system, it doesn’t take two minutes to check if there are any faults with the fuse, preventing yourself from making the situation a lot more complex.
You can check the starter connection by holding a circuit tester on the wire or find out if it is the ignition coil by using a multimetre. Faults could also be due to the distributor cap, coil wire, electrical connections, fuel pump or a loose starter. Going through the process of checking each fault can be time consuming, so taking the car into the garage may be much more efficient.
If it doesn’t look like the problem is the ignition switch, there are plenty of other faults to check for. While not many modern cars have a fuse that is linked to the car starting system, it doesn’t take two minutes to check if there are any faults with the fuse, preventing yourself from making the situation a lot more complex.
You can check the starter connection by holding a circuit tester on the wire or find out if it is the ignition coil by using a multimetre. Faults could also be due to the distributor cap, coil wire, electrical connections, fuel pump or a loose starter. Going through the process of checking each fault can be time consuming, so taking the car into the garage may be much more efficient.
