Car wont turnover

Recently my wifes 626 was working fine, then yesterday it wouldnt even start. when I looked at it, when I put the key in the ingition, the lights would all come on like normal, but when I tried cranking the engine, all power would go out. During this time though, it would make clicking noises like it was trying to start. I checked the leads, cleaned the battery terminals, even took the battery in to get tested, but no go, it still wont budge. I hooked it up to my neighbors car though, and it started up after a couple of tries. Anybody in here have ANY ideas on what it could be? I really dont want to have to pay someone to look at it and tell me its broke. Im definately hoping its not the starter or the solenoid or something like that. Is there any other checks I can do ? please HELP

While I was reading your post, I was trying to understand the problem. When you say all power goes out while starting, you must mean the headlights, dome lamp, etc... And then the power comes back on again when the key is not in the start position? When you say it will start with help, that should mean the engine is okay, I would presume? Does it seem that the starter is straining with the help of the other car? I would make sure the positive lead into the underhood fusebox is clean and tight. Follow the ground lead and make sure it is clean and tight at all points. I have also seen where the battery lead connects to the starter main stud, that fastening nut can become loose and need to be tightened. Do you know if the car has ever had corroded battery terminals in the past? If so, there can be corrosion inside the battery cables you can't see causing a problem. If you know how to do voltage drop tests on battery cables, this can help isolate the problem.

Sounds exactly like a very weak battery eh bkey. Dash light all on ok then dim out as battery tries to turn starter over and starter only clicks. All sounds like a good description of a weak or dying battery.

Agree - it sounds like a problem I have had many times in the past. Buying a new battery fixed it each time.

I do agree also, I was going by this :

quote:

even took the battery in to get tested

but he never told the test results of it!

We took the battery in to be tested at Walmart and the read out was perfectly normal. We cleaned off the heads and the leads and still it's a no go when we try to turn it on. When I put the key to where the radio will come on everything seems normal but the second I turn it to the start position everything goes dead but the starter will make a very quiet clicking noise. It started when we we jumped it from our friend's truck but it hasn't started since.

When jump starting your vehicle were the jumper cables hooked up backwards even for a quick moment?? Usually this will blow the main fuse but that will kill anything electrical I think. Possible another fuse was blown in the process?

My experience with getting the battery tested is that it will test ok but still may not consistently start the car.

If you have another car with a known good battery or a neighbor with the same, try the known good battery in the dead car and see what happens. The battery can have a good static charge, but will die with the load of a starter.

I took it into the dealership. Turns out the interior of the cables were corroded out and the leads couldn't get enough of a connction to override that. On top of that something happened to my front axels that was causing a metal on metal rubbing and something to deal with the rear sway bar is going on too. All in all it's WAY too much for me to afford to fix it all so I'm just dealing with the battery cables and the axel then I'll fix the minor things later on. Guess I'll be hitting up the salvage yards for some things.

I guessed correct then about corroded battery cables...COOL! Have seen it many times before. Thats why I was asking about voltage drop tests. Good it is fixed.