Car Won't Start-most common car repair problems

One of the most common car repair problems drivers encounter is a car that won't start. A dead car is usually an unexpected event and it usually happens at the worse possible times, such as when you are already late for work or school and you don't have money for a tow truck or cab. Before you panic however there are a few quick things that you can do to help you assess the situation and hopefully discover what is wrong with your car.

The most obvious answer is you have a weak or bad battery. This can happen if your battery is old and at the end of its life span or if it's an older battery and the cold climate was more than it could handle. It can also be something as easy as a loose connection or battery corrosion.

If you can turn on the radio but the engine won't crank it may be a dead battery. Before you attempt to jump start it you can check your battery cable connections and ensure that they are connected firmly and that there is no corrosion interfering with your car's ability to get power from the battery.

If your connection is loose you may be able to simply tighten it down with a screw driver and start your car. If your connection cables have a white or green powder, you may be looking at some corrosion that needs to be cleaned up. Depending on what resources you have with you to clean your battery connection, you could use a wire brush and baking soda paste to clean the corrosion away or if you are really stuck you can pour cola on the corrosion. The cola will eat away the corrosion and you should be able to make a good connection again. Try not to have direct skin to skin contact with the corrosive agent if you can avoid it.

Failing these two easy methods, you may have a dead battery that will require a jump start. Your worst case scenario at this point will be the jump start not firing your car back to life. If this is the case you may either have a bad starter or a bad alternator. Both of these will require a mechanic to test and replace the defective part and do a little deeper mechanical investigating. If you are able to access a mobile mechanic this is a good job for them. You may spend more on a mechanic with his shop on wheels but you can make it up by saving on the tow bill.