With Lovert Mafukure

THERE are countless reasons why a car may not start. Some of them are simple reasons that do not need you to call the mechanic.

Some of them can cost you a lot of money yet its just simple thing that need you to just know what to check and correct.

First question the mechanic would ask is, is the starter clicking or its just dead? Most modern cars make a clicking sound when the battery does not have enough power to crank. When that happens you need another battery or a jump start.

If you constantly have to jump start your car then you need to check your electrolyte level and if that does not help then have the battery checked for dead cells or simply replace the battery with a new one.

If there there’s no sound at all and no lights on the dash, it could be a bad battery or bad connection. Check battery terminals for carbon build up. Also check the wiring for broken lines.

I had a car that had a stubborn starter solenoid wire. It would always come out at the most inconvenient of times. When that wire comes out, your car simply will not crank no-matter what you do. You may also need to check for corroded battery leads and replace them if necessary.

Starter fuse or relay is another first port of call when there’s no crank and no sound whatsoever from the starter.

If the starter cranks but the engine won’t start then you need to check fuel, oxygen and spark. First of all, check whether you have fuel in your car.

I know of people that have called mechanics for breakdowns and got charged huge amounts of money for a fuel problem. You may not always have to depend on that fuel gauge because it can get stuck or read wrongly. Some fuel gauges get stuck on full, some on half and some on empty.

So make sure you have fuel in your car before checking anything else. Wrong diagnosis usually mean you spend more money than you should on things that are not the problem.

Blocked fuel lines may cause such mayhem as well. Every car comes with two or more fuel filters. These filters need replacement every time as the service manual directs.

Cars need to maintain a clean flow of fuel. Over