Please Help, Car won't start!

thogborn · Post by **thogborn** » 27 Sep 2011, 16:41

I have a 2001 Volvo S80 (125K miles).. I drove it earlier today and then this afternoon when I went to leave my house again the car wouldn't start. I have read a lot of different things on here of what it could be. When I turn the key all I hear is a rapid clicking sound coming from the engine.

My roommates are not home yet so I haven't been able to test the battery. Although I don't think it's the battery because my keyless entry, radio, lights on dash, wipers, everything like that works. When I've had a dead battery before those things didn't work. I will try the battery when they get home to make sure though.

I also haven't been able to look in the engine while trying to start it so I'll do that when they get home as well to see if I can find where the noise is coming from. Next I checked my fluids. Oil was a little low but nothing crazy, I added a little bit to be sure though. All other fluid levels were fine.

I saw someone suggest checking the wires from the starter to the solenoid to see if they were loose. They weren't, but I wasn't able to wiggle them while trying to start the car. Will do that later also. I just filled up with gas, so it shouldn't be due to lack of gas. I think that leaves the starter itself. I never have had any trouble getting the car to turn over before so I don't know how it would just stop working all of a sudden unless that normally is the case.

That's really more of my scenario and background than my question.

My question is... My driveway is a pretty steep hill leading into the road with a drainage ditch on the other side of the road. Now since the car won't start I'm thinking I'm going to have to move it into the road in front of my house. That would require me to put the keys in and move the key over (once or twice??) to the right, put the car in neutral and reverse down the hill. My question is, will the brakes and steering work if the car is off and coasting down the hill in neutral?? I don't want to pick up too much speed and end up in the ditch and make everything 100x worse. Is it a good idea to reverse down a hill in neutral? I started to move the car back a little bit and found it hard to break. So I figured I would try to find out if its safe to do first. If worse comes to worse and the brakes weren't working could I use the emergency break without causing more damage? If the car needs to be towed it will need to be moved off the hill.

Sorry for the length of this, I'm freaking out and need some help. Thanks in advance!

RBH · Post by **RBH** » 27 Sep 2011, 17:33

The clicking sound you hear sure is reminiscent of a low battery to me. The accessories you mentioned might well work even with a low battery as they all draw much less current than the starter. You could try getting in the car, turning on the headlights, radio, and whatever else you can think of and then blow the horn. If the horn sounds feeble then it is probably a low battery.

My guess is that you probably won't need to move the car, but if you do, expect the brakes to be REALLY stiff and the same with the steering. The emergency brake would certainly work in this situation but you will probably need both hands to turn the steering wheel. ( my wife has done it when the power steering belt broke but if you can you believe it: she was unhappy with me when she got home!!)

thogborn · Post by **thogborn** » 27 Sep 2011, 18:13

thanks RBH, just hand someone jump it and you were right, it was just the battery. I was afraid it was going to be something worse and freaked. Thanks for your help, glad it ended up being the least expensive thing.