The strangest things happen to us..............
@camomom (7535)
United States
September 2, 2009 4:19pm CST
As some of you know, we have had some vehicle issues. My van would just click when we tried to start it and wasn't even able to be jump started. Our Blazer would try to turn over but wouldn't start until more then a few tries and was able to be jumped.
Today, my father in law stopped by and we told him about what was going on. He said that he thought it was the starter on the Blazer and that he may be able to show us how to start it with just a screw driver. He and camodad went outside and while they were trying to start the Blazer they saw a vacuum line was loose. Camodad tightened it and it started almost immediately. It's still having a bit of trouble starting but not like before.
They then decided to look at the van and see if they could start the it with a screwdriver. (something about tapping the starter) They couldn't BUT they played around with the starter relay and switched around fuses and I don't know what else. Camodad decided to keep trying to start it even after they gave up on a diagnosis. He finally got it to start. He shut it off and started it numerous times and it started every time.
We have an Advance Auto nearby so we decided that since we did get it started we should drive it over there and have a diagnostic check done. We brought both vehicles and had them both checked. The guy said that the battery in the van was showing a little low but not low enough to cause it not to start the van. The Blazer showed nothing wrong at all.
We explained to the guy that we had just cleaned the battery terminals the other day. He said it's possible that because they were so corroded that maybe that was the cause of the battery not charging. Since we did get it started, now it is charging itself back up to normal and that's why it showed low. We had no problems with it since. We also determined that the Blazer was just getting air into the fuel line which was causing the issues with that.
PLEASE wish us luck that we have actually found and fixed the problems. Thank you all for the great advice in my last post also.
Has anything like this ever happened to you?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
2 Sep 09
I'm glad that it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. I love it when that happens, but it doesn't seem to happen that often (at least not to me). Both diagnosis make sense, though, so hopefully you will be good with your vehicles for a while.
I had a problem with my car before, and the guys kept insisting that it was the starter and I would have to get a new one. I kept telling them that it wasn't, but I'm just a girl so what do I know. Finally, after a bunch of arguing and me asking them to just check it out before buying and installing a brand new starter, they did and found the problem - a loose wire. Once they fixed the wire, the car ran beautifully.
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
3 Sep 09
lol - you are totally right! Unfortunately, I was related to these "mechanics", so it was a "lose-lose" situation - what brother wants to admit that their little sister might be right, especially on a typical "guy" thing. They really do know a lot about cars, and I have learned a lot by listening to them and helping out. They should be proud that I know so much, but I guess it was a shot to their male ego. I didn't rub it in their faces TOO much, though - lol!
@rusty2rusty (6751)
• Defiance, Ohio
3 Sep 09
No this has never happen to me as I have a husbad who keeps up on all the maintence to our vehicles. But I have seen it happen to other people. My husband says a corrision on the battery terminals is a big problem for why a vehicle won't start alot of times it is something that simple. I amglad to hear that s all it was for you all.
