ok..i believe its the battery because its just a bunch of fast clicks.. but my mom says its the starter? but some times (when my car would turn on) when i turn the car on my engine turns..then like stops almost, struggles i think and then it will start fresh? i have no clue..soulds like its dying? but its a stock 95 civic dx motor..(bout to get a swap).
thanks for the help with my 2 questions

 

battery

 

so....when you turn the key one, all you hear is clicking??? Does the engine even try to turn over???

You can try a few things to find out what it is...

first, jump the starter solenoid with a screwdriver while someone pushes in the clutch( make sure the ingition is on). If it turns over, the selenoid is bad.

Or, try push starting it and see if it fires up.

Or, try and jump it with cables.

Throw it on the charger...etc etc

 

many people just buy a new battery when this happens but here's what I do: Jump start the car that way if it dosent work you know you need a new starter or solenoid. If it does start while it's running disconnect the battery if it stays running you know the alternator works if it dies your alternator is not working. Hope some of that made sence.

 

be carefull when working around the starter selonoid as it can produce HARMFULLY high voltage.

 

it sounds like a dead cell,
take it to sears and have it looked at get yourself a new battery

 

Do your lights turn on? Are they bright?

You can take the battery to your local Kragen and they'll test it for free.

 

just go get a load test done on your battery, that will tell you if your battery is dead

if your battery is dead, then replace it...and if not start tracking down the problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NonovUrbizniz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">be carefull when working around the starter selonoid as it can produce HARMFULLY high voltage.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No it won't.

The voltage will be whatever the battery voltage is (engine not running). But because of the size of the wire going to it, ie big. There can be a lot of amperage.
So just to be safe disconnect the negative side of the battery before you do any work on the starter.

that said .... its still your battery

If you get a lot of fast clicks like that. That means your battery is not charged enough to turn the starter. It has enough juice to engage the solinoid but as soon as the motor contacts close the battery voltage drops too low and the solinoid disengages. And the cycle repeats. click click click rapidly

Now the reason your battery is dead could be the battery or a bad charging system. I would take it to an auto shop. They can load test the battery and the charging system.

 

oh yea one more thing i forgot to mention...

yes battery's can just up and die. they do not allways give you a warning as to when they will die

 

how you jump the starter solenoid? do i just short + side and - side using a screw driver? and also how do i push start automatic cars?

 

The large terminal to the small terminal should "jump" the starter.

No you cant push start an auto. Automatics need hydralic pressure to go into any gear. Without the motor running there is nothing turning the transmissions pump, so there is no hydralic pressure to engage the clutch packs.