My van is not starting

ANSWER : It really depends on what type, year, make, and model of van you have. In many cases with vans newer than 1996, if the throttle position sensor was faulty and triggered a Check Engine Light, the error codes stored in the ECM need to be cleared before the vehicle is restarted; otherwise, it may cause difficulty starting.

The best option for you is to contact a local mechanic and have them reset the Check Engine Light or error codes to see if that clears up your issue.

ANSWER : Hello. Thank you for writing in. There are several reasons your vehicle may only start when jump starting. The first and most common is a build up of resistance that is causing you to need a boost of voltage to get the engine started. This may be due to poor battery cables, a bad ground connection, a poor starter solenoid, and a couple of other issues. The first thing you want to do is perform a visual inspection of the starting system. Make sure there is no corrosion build up in the battery cables. You can also check the resistance across these wires and make sure you have a solid connection between components. You then want to make sure the starter solenoid is doing its job. It is responsible for taking the small amount of electricity sent by the ignition and turning it into a huge electrical charge that is strong enough to push over the engine with the help of some gear ratios in its favor. Do some more testing, and stick to the basics before assuming its something seriously complicated.

ANSWER : Hi there. There could be two problems here. It is possible that your battery is bad and will not take a charge from your alternator while driving. In that case every time you shut your car off you will not have enough juice to start it again. Inspect your battery – it should have at least 12.5 to 13 volts to start your car, if it doesn’t you will need to replace the battery. The second problem could be that your alternator is bad and not charging your battery, in this case you will need to replace your alternator. Both the battery and the alternator can be tested in your car. If you would like to have the car checked for you, a certified professional from YourMechanic can come to your car’s location to diagnose the starting problem and proceed with repairs.

ANSWER : Hi There,
The idle air control valve is a small valve on the engine’s intake system that reads the air intake as it comes into the motor. This is controlled by the car’s ECM which uses this information to make adjustments to the air/fuel ratio depending on various inputs such as outside air temperature, intake air temperature, load and various other things. As you accelerate, your car’s engine is receiving a much higher dose of fuel than when at idle and conversely, when you let off the gas pedal, there is a sudden change in this fuel supply as a result of your foot letting off the pedal. When this happens, the job of the idle air control valve is to bring this deceleration down to a slow and smooth idle rather than suddenly cutting off the fuel supply causing the motor to die. When the idle air control valve is not working properly, this cause a disruption in this process resulting in the engine not being able to idle properly. I would recommend having a professional come to your location to diagnose and inspect your vehicle.

ANSWER : It sounds like your starting issues may be linked to a problem with air metering or fuel delivery. A clogged or malfunctioning idle air control valve may show some of the same symptoms you are describing. The idle air control valve can be stuck in a cold start position which may work well if the car has been sitting a few hours, but as the engine warms up there must be a regulation in airflow. Consider hiring an experienced technician like one from YourMechanic who can come out for a closer look at your hard start situation and offer a more personal diagnosis.

ANSWER : Hello…I will help you as best I can on this. First, to help you if future incidents arise, the most important thing to keep in mind when dealing with a car is it best to never replace anything, like a part, unless it is confirmed to be broken or it is a consumable, like spark plugs, that has a defined lifetime (so, for example, a spark plug might have a "lifetime" of 60,000 miles; no need to test it because after 60,000 miles you just simply throw the spark plugs away). In your case, you are referring to the car’s "storage battery", not a cheap item, and typically fairly long-lived, too, at 5 to 7 years. If the battery is more than 4-5 years old, then there was no huge loss in discarding it because batteries do not last forever, but if the battery was less than 5 years old, the battery should be load tested simply to determine if the no start is DUE TO a fault in the battery. So, you want to diagnose the problem, not guess at the problem, because it is better to not spend money if you don’t have to. In your case, were the diagnostic done, that is the battery load test, if the battery "passed", you could have applied the money spent on the battery to the actual repair needed. The reason I am belaboring this is because a common problem faced by consumers with their cars is they replace parts that just simply do not need to be replaced. In your circumstance, if you are not comfortable doing the diagnostic, which is perfectly understandable (often I don’t even want to do it myself on my own car…too cold outside!) you can request a no-start diagnostic and a certified Mechanic will make quick work of this problem for you. As far as the details of what is wrong, from your description, it sounds like there is a failure in either the circuit to the starter motor, or a fault in the starter motor itself. Not to worry, though, as this general circumstance is among the more common faults that YourMechanic deals with and so, in all probability, if you schedule the diagnostic you car will be repaired as early as the same day. Please let us know how we can help you further!

ANSWER : Hi there:

Without being there to inspect your vehicle, or having information about what type of car, truck or SUV you own, it’s very hard for us to give you some advice. You might want to have a professional mobile mechanic complete a car is hard to start inspection; so they can come to your location and determine why your vehicle is having these issues.

ANSWER : As you may know when jump starting the car, the battery power provided is being supplied form the other car you are using to jump your car with. If the car does not start following the jump, this would suggest your battery may be dead and needs to be replaced. If the battery was last replaced in 9/2012, it is most likely time for a new battery as that is a decent amount of life for a battery.