What Should You Do If Your Car Won’t Start?

A car that won’t start is a major headache for any driver. This problem inevitably happens when you need your vehicle. The main reasons for this problem are damaged parts and delayed servicing. As your Kia dealer in Temple Hills, MD, we can easily fix any of these problems for you. These are three of the reasons why a car won’t start.

Advice From Your Kia Dealer: Reasons Why Your Car Won’t Start

Dead Battery

The battery provides the initial electrical charge that starts your engine. The battery sends an electrical charge to the starter solenoid when you hit the start button. The solenoid powers the starter, which initiates the crank that brings your engine to life. If the battery doesn’t supply this charge, your engine can only be started with a jump start.

 A car battery can die for several reasons, including age, loose connections, or lack of recharging. Our technicians will need to investigate to identify the problem, and then we can fix it. An old or worn-out battery will need to be replaced, but problems involving insufficient charging will usually mean our battery can be recharged once the issue is fixed.

Worn Alternator

As we’ve seen, the battery supplies power to the starter, which uses a large percentage of the battery’s power. The alternator’s job is to produce electricity for all your car’s systems, and it recharges the battery. An alternator has a useful life of approximately eight years. As it ages, an alternator starts to slow down due to worn and damaged parts.

An older alternator will supply less power when it slows down, which affects battery recharging. If a battery uses more power than the alternator replenishes, the battery will slowly weaken. Starting difficulties will occur as the battery takes longer to build up a sufficient charge to power the starter. We can easily test your alternator and install a new one if it’s damaged.

Starter Motor

The starter motor has a small gear inside, activating the engine’s flywheel. The starter motor then delivers electricity, and this causes your engine to rotate. As the engine rotates, fuel is drawn from the tank and injected into the intake manifold, and the air is drawn into the manifold. The fuel and air will mix, be drawn into the cylinders, and the combustion process begins.

Problems with the starter motor could be due to a damaged solenoid, a failing starter motor, or broken electrical connections. We’ll examine the motor and replace damaged parts or the motor itself if it fails to fix this problem.

If your car can’t start, call our service department immediately at DARCARS Kia of Temple Hills. We’ll help identify and repair the problem, and your car will work perfectly again in no time.

Tags: Dead Battery, Reasons Why Your Car Won't Start, Starter Motor, Worn Alternator
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