99-LS1

95 EX with the stock 1.6L SOHC. It was stored for the summer and started up perfectly fine 1 month ago when I changed the oil on it (after not being driven for 3+ months). 3 weeks later, it would crank but not turn over. After a lot of cranking and on a battery charger it finally turned over and I figured this was bad gas. I drove it home (it was stored at my parents house) and parked it.

The next day it would not crank at all. I would hear a single click (I assume the starter solenoid) but then nothing. I pulled the starter and it passed all tests at autozone multiple times. I tried jumping the starter with the battery via a test wire and this would do the same thing (just one click). I jump started it with my summer car and it started just fine. So today I bought a brand new battery and it seemed to be fine. Turned it off and on a few times just to make sure it would crank and turn over. Then I drove it to run an errand and it did the exact same thing; one click from I am assuming the starter solenoid but would not turn over at all. The car is currently sitting at the grocery store but I am going to head back for it later tonight, just would love some insight on what I should check. From the reading I've been doing I am thinking it might be a ground issue so I will check all those when I get it back home.

alphalanos

so it jump started fine and it started fine with a new battery. sounds like your old battery was shot, and you might have a drain issue or your alternator isnt charging.

Ryan Lwin

Most likely the case of bad alternator. Your old battery must have been ok to keep that much charge to make your car run. Test alternator.

99-LS1

Sorry guys--I forgot to mention that after it started to do the one-click-no-crank deal (2nd paragraph in OP), it stayed like that for about a week. I tried jump starting it the first time and it didn't start with a jump start. I would check it every other day or so to see if it would crank on it's own but figured that was crazy since there was obviously something wrong that was keeping it from cranking.

2 days ago a buddy of mine came over and he wanted to see what it was doing, and it magically cranked (completely normal, not slow or anything that would make me think the battery was low) and it turned right over. We actually drove it down the street and as soon as I turned it off it wouldn't start back up and it had to be push-started to get it back home. Yesterday, same deal, wouldn't crank, but had seemingly plenty of power, all the lights were on, fan was running, etc. Solenoid clicks hard but wouldn't turn at all.

Today I tried starting it again and once again it magically cranked and tried to turn over, but cranked a little slow (probably from all the load I put on the battery yesterday trying to diagnose). This is when I jumped it with my other car and was able to get it started (making me think that maybe all along the battery was the culprit). Of course I now know that there's something else going on since I only drove about a mile down to the store before it wouldn't crank again.

Anyways, I push started it to get it home from the store and it drove home just fine, no battery light on or dim lights or anything that would make me think the alternator is at fault. I just now tried jump starting it again with the other car to make sure it wasn't a dead battery from a bad alternator. No dice; doesn't crank at all. So here's what I know:



Car has power to run lights, radio, fuel pump, etc. Car will start and run perfectly fine with a push-start.

Headlights do not dim when the car tries to "crank". They stay bright

Jump-starting the starter with a direct connection from the battery to the starter does not work (even with a fully charged battery from my other vehicle).

Ryan Lwin

Try jumping again. But this time, tell the person in the another car to keep his RPM at or above 3000. Make sure you clip directly on the wires and the clips are not rusty or dirty. If that starts, then it's your battery, your clamps, your connector, your alternator, your starter connection. Some of them are bad or all of them are bad.

axis11

Try a known good starter. Some starters fail this way ( working intermittently).

Yoitshector

This is making believe that the starter is bad. If your using a new battery with a good charge and you tried the bypass jump and only a click was hear either the solenoid or starter is toast. Try a known working started as this ^^ guy said and work from
There.

mrspeedy69

What do your dash lights do when it just clicks? You may need to check all of your grounds or replace your battery terminals. I've had a couple cars do this in the past and on one of them the grounds were just not getting a good connection and the other one my terminals were just not getting a good connection.

99-LS1

It ended up being the starter. Weird thing is when I went to get a new one from auto zone, I realized the car had an automatic starter in it instead of manual. Not sure if that makes a difference... Kind of weird they would have 2 different styles of starter if they both worked on the manual transmission (unless the manual wouldn't work with the auto). In any case it is starting fine now. Thanks for the help guys.