BG Auto, Some quick advice?

[Arelian]

So here in Charleston we got some very rare winter weather (Snow!) and it's messed quite a few things up. Namely, my girlfriends car refuses to turn on.

We thought it might be the battery, but all of the electronics in the car are turning on and working. The engine just completely refuses to crank. It doesn't make any noise whatsoever when we try.

Personally, I think that her mechanic just didn't put the right amount of anti-freeze in the car when she went to get her last oil change, since where we live tends to stay fairly warm. The engine is extremely cold to the touch, and we tried giving it a day to warm up by keeping the hood open when the sun was on the car to no avail. Didn't really expect much, but no harm in trying.

Just wondering if there's anything short of getting the car towed that we can do to get it to a mechanic, like somehow warm the engine up enough to get us there.

Thanks!

[izembo]

turn on the car so that the heat blows, turn the heat to max. smell anything?

[Arelian]

Nope, no weird smells. I had the heat running for a little bit and nothin'.

[jmc]

I might be completely missing it in the OP, but did you guys try jumping the car?

The battery just might not have enough power to actually crank the engine. Would explain why all the electronics are working.


Also, when you try starting the car.... do you hear any clicking at all?

[Cadsuane]

If it was just the cold you would at least hear the engine turning over but failing to ignite, which is a problem I am acutely familiar with having driven an old diesel mercedes in Canada for the past so many years. Also if there really isn't enough anti freeze in the rad then the coolant would have frozen which would have probably cracked the block and destroyed your car, and that's hugely unlikely unless it's 40 below there. You probably just have a bad battery or a bad starter or a bad ignition relay or any other number of things that would prevent the motor from turning over, and that very likely has nothing to do with the cold.

[drglass4]

A) Try jumpstart (battery may be low or in need of replacing)

B) If that doesnt work and you still hear no noise when you turn the key, possible ignition/starter problem

[Acturus]

Piggybacking on this thread, rather than making my own:

My car, a 2005 Mazda 3, is reaching the end of the dealer's warranty. I'm within 100 miles of the 60K mile warranty mark, and the car becomes 5 years old in June anyway.

Is there any value in getting an extended warranty for the car? I'm going to be keeping it for at least another 12-18 months, and the payments on it will last about that long anyway.

If an extended warranty is worth it, should I talk to the dealership, or try to find an outside company that will do it? I know nothing about this sort of deal, but I dread the idea of losing the warranty and then hitting a major repair bill for something stupid in July like the A/C.

[Zansho]

You could also try a heater block - it's a device that warms up your engine to help it start. Thing is, some batteries simply don't work below a specific threshold in temperature, that could be the case with yours. My suggestion would be to start eliminating things - use a heater block to warm it up a bit before starting > check the battery with a battery tester > Starter could be shit too - take it off and have it tested > last - ignition module could just be crap. Out of all of them, the starter is the most pain in the ass solution, depending on what kind of car/truck you drive.

As for the other poster asking about warranty, Mazdas have been pretty damn reliable - I had an old protoge (94) that lasted 201k miles WITHOUT ever having anything go wrong - I just did all the normal maintenance and belt changes, then presto, at 201k miles I had to switch out a water pump. That's it! Extended warranties are generally "padding the wallet" for the dealer - in all honesty, it's probably not worth it if you're not planning on keeping the car beyond 40k miles and another 2-3 years.

But if it has given you issues previously, it might not be a bad idea to take it to the dealer now and have them check out EVERYTHING and get it all fixed in one shot - things like engine mounts, alternators, control modules, alternators, serpentine belts, stuff like that. You could also take it to a 3rd party mechanic that you trust to have him/her look it over, and they can give you an unbiased opinion about the car's health, then take it to the dealer to have the things you need fixed under warranty.

[willriker]

Try charging the battery. It is entirely possible to run all your electronics yet not have enough charge to start the car. If that does not work... things get more expencive to do from there on out.

i am that voting it's your starter. The starter is one of the first things people check if the engine is simply not turning over. Its one of the cheepest things to replace too. so pray its that.

[*Shinzon*]

@Acturus
I guess it depends on how often you've experienced problems with the car. We have an old Subaru Forester that we didn't get an extended warranty on but also never had a problem with the car. There's companies like that Mogi or whatever that say you can save tons of money by using their service but really, it all depends on the type of car you own.

Typical service like oil changes and the like can be done at any pepboys or something for low costs. The only thing that a dealer warranty really helps are major, major repairs and replacement of dealer parts that are bad or uninstalled properly. I'd say in your situation if you don't have a mechanic you trust, or someone who knows a very good and reliable mechanic, you may you want to look into the dealer warranty first, then check out a service like mogi or something.

[Zansho]

Starters can be pretty expensive to replace if you take it to someone else to do it, lol... My ex-GF took her Dodge Avenger (ewww) to have her starter replaced (even though I offered to do it for the parts cost) and the mechanic ripped her off for $450.00 bucks.

You can get a starter from Autozone for 60-80 bucks, then put it in - just hope your car isn't a front wheel drive 4 cylinder engine, because putting a starter in those is a real bitch.

[Quixon]

My car, a 2005 Mazda 3, is reaching the end of the dealer's warranty. I'm within 100 miles of the 60K mile warranty mark, and the car becomes 5 years old in June anyway.

Have you kept up on all the routine maintenance? If so, then no I would not worry about getting an extended warranty.


Routine maintenance is more than just oil changes also . Fuel filter, spark plugs & wires, etc.

[Acturus]

The car has been glorious. It was the first new car I had ever purchased, and I bought the basest of the base models after receiving a lemon of a Cougar from my parents.

I've never had a manufacterer issue with it. It's been in two small accidents, but has held up like a champ.

I guess once I hit 60K, I'll take in, get it checked over tip to tail, and then hope for the best. We're buying a mini-van anyway for the wife and our kid, so my Mazda will be my town car, which should be fine for the next while.

[willriker]

Arcturus:

In 5 years you put 60,000 on the car. thats what, 12,000 a year? not bad, wish i can keep a car that low on miles.

Dont get the extended warranty. With most cars, unless you hit bad luck, you wont find yourself encountering any significant bills until you get close to ~125,000. Cars are actually built pretty reliably nowadays. The way i see it, yes, the extended warranty offers you peace of mind. But its really not all that. Most things that you run into, are not covered with warantees. Only the major stuff tends to be on any affordable extended warranty. And as i mentioned earlier, the major stuff really is designed to last.

My advice would change if you really put miles on the car, or if you beat up the car while driving. an example would be that if it is your first time owning a manual vehicle. Another example would be if you drive in areas that are not friendly to machinery (you live next to ocean front, or in the desert.) Barring that, with proper maintenance, your fine.

P.S. beware of those telephone calls asking if you want an extended warrantee. There is a scam out there. people will steal your money with absolutely no intent of providing you with warranty coverage. Its one of the semi-new con plans.

[Purrrfect]

Extended warranties have saved me having to buy 2 different transmissions in the past few years (first one was a $5k deal just for the parts from GM). Granted, both were used cars so I did not know their history (one I knew the replacement was imminent when I got it, made sure the warranty was with it). If you know everything has been good, you can probably save a bit and pass on it. I'm sure there are Mazda forums out there where you can get an idea of common part failures and see how yours compares.

OP, try a jump as everyone else said. I just went out to try to start my car yesterday since I've been driving my truck in all the snow we've been getting. It hasn't run in prolly 3 weeks now. It had enough juice to turn the electronics on but could not start like yours. All I had to do was hook up another car and all was good. Also, if the battery in the car has some age, then the cold has probably worked it over pretty hard. Letting them stay dead once they are there is a good way to take life off the unit.