This can be quite frustrating when your car doesn’t start in the morning. Just yesterday everything was okay but suddenly when you are about to go to your work or give your kids a ride to school, the car just doesn’t start.
In short, your vehicle may not start after sitting overnight because of problems with fuel pressure, ignition, starter motor, battery problems, or some other issues that are harder to locate and repair. If you have already had experience with your car not starting in the morning, look back and remember what was the reason – most likely, your vehicle just has the same problem again.
So, in this case, we will not concentrate on the fact that the car was sitting the whole night. Actually, almost all cars are sitting at night and it doesn’t disturb them from starting in the morning.
What are the symptoms that your vehicle shows?
First of all, you need to concentrate on the symptoms. Because the symptoms will help you understand better the nature of the problem and spend less time locating the issue. In different vehicles, the symptoms may vary.
Here are the examples:
- The engine cranks but the car doesn’t start. You may crank it for a minute or two, it doesn’t change anything the car just doesn’t start. In this case, you may be sure that the battery and the starter are okay, but the ignition and the fuel supply may be the culprits.
- The engine doesn’t crank and you hear some clicks or you don’t hear anything. In this case, the problem may be with the battery or the starter motor and it doesn’t make sense to start searching for the issue in the ignition system or in the fuel supply.
- The engine cranks but its sound is a little different from what you hear usually in the morning. So, it may crank slowly and the lights in your vehicle go dimmer whenever you try to start the car.
- The engine starts but it may stall again in a couple of seconds. If this is what’s happening with your car, you need to check the amount of fuel you have in your tank and also the fuel pressure.
- Nothing happens when you turn the key or push the start button. If this is what’s happening in your case, the range of problems is quite wide. But again, you will need to deal with electrical problems and the battery and give no attention to the fuel supply or ignition.
These are just examples of what may happen with your car when it doesn’t start in the morning. It doesn’t mean that you will have only five possible scenarios. The number of scenarios is just insane and I can’t list them all in this article.
How should you register the symptoms?
If you now have one of those bad mornings when your vehicle doesn’t start, you shouldn’t get frustrated. Here are the steps that you will want to make in order to understand what’s exactly happening with your vehicle:
- Can you turn on the lights and music?
If yes, most likely, your battery is in normal condition and this is the last thing you should check right now. There still can be some problems with the battery but when the lights and the music are working properly, the chances for the low voltage are minimal.
- Does your starter crank the engine?
This is the second important step to notice. If the starter motor doesn’t crank the engine, you should pay attention exactly to the starter and do the electrical connections it has. Also, the battery can’t be deleted from the list of possible problems.
- Can you crank the engine long enough?
If the engine just Cranks a couple of times and then dies, the most possible reason for the problem is the low battery. But if the cranking is completely okay, the battery is not your primary concern.
- Does the engine Feel Like Starting?
If your engine just cranks and even doesn’t try to start, you can be sure that the problem is with the fuel supply. If the engine cranks and tries to start but then stalls, I would start checking this vehicle from the ignition system.
- Are you doing everything right?
I once spoke with a person who had only bought a new vehicle. And he told me that he couldn’t start this vehicle and needed to spend a lot of time every morning. It appeared that he had never had an automatic vehicle before and he just didn’t know that you have to press the brake pedal in order to start such a vehicle.
So, make sure you are doing everything right and follow any prompts that are displayed on the dash of your car.
The most possible culprits of the no-start issue in the morning
If you think that some modern vehicles cannot start because of humidity problems or other weather conditions, this is not true. All Modern vehicles are made to start in any weather. So, the fact that your vehicle was sitting overnight in cold weather doesn’t change anything.
I’m about to list the most possible reasons why your car doesn’t start in the morning:
1) Low or dead battery
This is probably the most common reason why you can start your vehicle, especially after it was sitting for some time. You will notice that the engine can’t crank for a long-time – the cranking nature will change, and the lights will become dimmer or will even go off.
You may also check the battery’s health using different tools, even just a simple multimeter. The healthy battery will provide you with 12.5-12.7 volts and this voltage will not go down much under some load.
2) Low fuel pressure
The most common culprit of the low fuel pressure in your vehicle is the fuel pump. While the majority of cars will have only one fuel pump that is located in the fuel tank, some vehicles will have two fuel pumps: the one in the tank and also the high-pressure fuel pump that is located in the engine bay.
Also, clogged fuel filters can cause low fuel pressure. Among exotic problems I can also think of the clogged fuel lines. But first of all, you will need to check if there is fuel in your tank. If the fuel gauge is broken, you will never know that your car has already run out of fuel.
3) Poor ignition
Usually, poor ignition is connected to faulty spark plugs or ignition coils. But if your engine doesn’t start at all, the ignition coils should not be working at all. Even if one of the ignition coils fails, the engine may start using all other cylinders.
But the ignition can also be faulty because of the ECU problems, the issues with some sensors, etc. So, if the problem is with the ignition, it’s quite hard to locate the issue without using some professional diagnostic tools.
4) Starter motor failure
When the starter motor fails, it can’t crank the engine, and eventually, the engine will not start. In most cases, the problem is not with the entire starter motor, but with some of its parts. For example, the starter solenoid may be the issue, or the bendix may be worn out. One more common issue is when the starter doesn’t get the signals because of electrical problems. Sometimes, you will need to have the starter replaced or repaired.
5) Other possible problems
If your engine cranks but doesn’t start, it may be because of problems with the timing belt or the timing chain. When they jump a little, the timing of the engine changes and it just fires the spark at the incorrect time.
Also, your diesel engine may not start after the cold night because the diesel fuel can actually freeze. It doesn’t freeze to form some kind of ice, but it freezes to the condition of the jelly. When this happens, the diesel fuel cannot be injected into the combustion chambers.
Also, there can be a number of electrical problems that prevent your engine from starting. The older your car, the more chances it has to not start in the morning because of some minor problem.
What can you do if your car doesn’t start in the morning?
You may need to register all the symptoms that your car shows because without this you will spend a lot of time just trying to locate the problem. If you register all the symptoms, your mechanic will help you find and solve the issue quite quickly.
Also, you may try to start your vehicle. Here are some ideas for this:
- If you have problems with the battery, you may use a special booster or ask someone else to help you jump-start your vehicle.
- If you have the manual transmission, and the car doesn’t start because of starter problems, you can push-start your car.
- If nothing happens, you may want to call for help – for example, you may use the road assistance service or just call a mechanic who will help you understand what the issue is.
But if you have no chance to start your car, you better leave it alone and find a better way to commute for today. When you have some time, you can come back to your car and find a way to start it or have it delivered to the repair shop.
Unfortunately, there are not so many DIY ideas on how you can repair your car or make it start right there and then. And if you can’t locate the issue immediately, I strongly recommend looking for professional help.