Most of the e-mails I receive everyday concern a no start condition. There are two types of no start conditions, "No Crank" and "Crank, No Start". A "No Crank" condition is when you turn the key to start the vehicle; the starter motor fails to turn the engine over. There may or may not be any noise associated with it, such as a "click" or "clunk". A click type noise can be indicative of a starter solenoid engaging properly and the starter not turning. A clunk type noise may be indicative of the starter engaging but is either jamming or the engine may be seized.

Today I want to talk about the "No Crank" condition. For the purposes of this discussion we'll assume we have a good, fully charged battery. Since different auto manufacturers do things in slightly different ways, I will speak in general terms. As always you should consult the service manual for your particular vehicle for information specific to your vehicle.

The most common cause of a "No Crank" condition is a bad starter or starter solenoid. There are various reasons for this, most common of which is the starter brushes are just worn out. In this case you would hear the starter solenoid click but the starter won't turn. Sometimes tapping on the starter will jar the brushes into a different position and you'll get a couple of more starts out of it, but that's just delaying the inevitable.

Less common is the bearings inside the starter jamming or the starter drive, or Bendix, jamming. In this case you would hear a loud clunk as the starter tries to turn but stops when it jams. An even less common cause of this clunk sound is the engine being seized up. On high mileage vehicles where a seized engine is a possibility, I try to turn the engine by hand by putting a socket and long breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt and turn the engine by hand a couple of full revolutions to be sure the engine is free.