DU Mechanics

[Thtwudbeme]

1994 Nissan truck....ran great, now won't start. No clicking, nothing. No lights.

Already fiddled with the battery cable connecters--zero.

any ideas?

[Redstone]

1. Four words: Call The Tow Truck.

Have them take it to a well-deserved retirement.

Redstone

[Thtwudbeme]

5. Redstone, I drove my last car for 20 years

my mother drove her studebaker for damn near 25.

We aren't "throw away vehicle" type people.

[Redstone]

18. Studebaker! Damn, I remember when I was a kid and we would go visit

my grandmother's sister and her husband at their Studebaker dealership in Littleton, New Hampshire. There's now a Pizza Hut where that was.

I still want a 1964 Super Hawk.

Redstone

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. What's different since the last time it was driven?

Were any lights left on? How cold has it been where you are?

[Thtwudbeme]

9. it's been warm; seventies and eighties here in the South

No lights left on to our knowledge.

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. Have you had any problems starting it before?

That is, with the battery that's in it now?

Any idea how old the battery is? (There should be a tag or label on the battery with the date stamped on it.)

[Thtwudbeme]

13. Never.

Battery is about a year and a half old.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Strange

Under those conditions, I can't think of a reason for a sudden voltage drop, and I sure can't diagnose from here. Battery cells don't just go bad all of a sudden, especially after only a year and a half.

Yup... time for the Yellow Truck.

Lemme know what it turns out to be, k? I'm always curious as to this kinda stuff. Helps me learn.

[DemoTex]

3. Did you check the battery voltage?

EOM

[Thtwudbeme]

7. No, not yet

actually, I will call Triple A on Thursday morning and get them to come look at it.

Funny, I just did the budget with all the tax stuff and thought, "oh man, I hope nothing big goes wrong for the next 10 months."

;)

This is our "second car." The first, the Subaru chugs right along!

[seemunkee]

4. Try jumping it from another car

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Bad starter solenoid?

[Thtwudbeme]

8. Yep

that's the first thing I thought of too. The "no noise" "no lights" "no clicking" thing made me think that.

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. If it were the solenoid

you'd still have lights. The solenoid only relays current to the starter; it's a big switch.

[Thtwudbeme]

14. OK, cool

Thanks for the info---

Could it be the starter?

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. Not unless your headlights, etc.

are wired into the "start" side of the ignition switch, which isn't bloody likely.

If a short caused the starter to blow, that same short could conceivably also drain your battery. But that wouldn't be the starter's fault.

And anyway, that's apparently not what happened.

[Hugin]

10. I had that happen once...

Turned out the resistance had changed in the starter power cable.
Messed up the voltage drop between the battery and the starter solenoid.

But, if I were you hearing hoof beats I'd look for horses and not a zebra. ;)

[Syncronaut Seven]

17. Simple process

1. Flip headlight switch, headlights on? go to step two. If not, Bad or discharged battery, Corroded battery connections.

2. Have friend attempt to start car. Do headlights stay on? yes? starter, starter solenoid, defective keyswitch.

No? Bad or discharged battery, Corroded battery connections.

Got a battery charger?

Nissans are pretty bulletproof, change the oil and filters on schedule you should get 250K-300K miles, easy.

[Throd]

19. It might be a defective key switch