Hi Scotty,
My sister has a 2008 Dodge Nitro with the 3.7L V6. She is having an issue with starting the car. When you turn the key to the start position you get one click out of the starter and nothing happens. Parts I have changed so far are, battery, starter, and Relays for the starter solenoid. Still having the same issue after replacing all these parts. It doesn’t always do this and sometimes starts right up like normal without issue. I know the car has one of those starters that automatically start the car. I don’t know exactly what it’s called or how to explain it. It’s not an aftermarket thing, it came from the factory with one of those starters where you turn the key to the start position and it starts the car on its own. If you hold the key on the start position it won’t do anything because the computer starts the car and will disengage the starter once started. Just like push button start, but with the key instead of a button. The only way we can get the car to start when it does the one click thing is to turn the key back and forth quickly from the On to Start position until it starts. So it just goes click click click a bunch of times and you’ll get lucky and one will actually engage and start the car. The only other thing I’ve noticed is every time I do a repair and need to disconnect the battery. After reconnecting the battery the car will start normally for about 24hrs give or take. Then it will go back to this click and no start after some time has passed. I’m afraid it might be something in the computer or the ignition of the car. Tried replacing everything else and I’m not sure how confident I would be swapping that out as I’m sure I would need a high level scan tool or something to be able to replace those. Let me know what you think about this one.
Thank you,
Bryan Adams
Install new wire terminals. Your issue sounds exactly like a poor connection with the terminals. Sometimes the wire connected to the terminal will separate slightly and corrode causing a poor connection and a no start. That can also be the cause, either way it sounds like a poor connection.
That was also done. New terminals on both positive and negative cables. All electrics in the car work just fine, like the radio, lights, and other accessories. It’s just starting the car that’s the issue.
Check battery voltage. You could have a failing alternator or voltage regulator. Battery can be faulty as well. I know you said your replaced a lot of part but that doesn't mean those parts are good. I've seen it happen a couple dozen times, Where new parts are bad
Neutral safety switch. Its possible its going bad. With car in the on position shift through the gears put back in park and see if that does anything
Your ecu/pcm/ bcm is bad or faulty
Power wires and or ground has short or isn't grounded properly.
Double check the starter ( new doesn't mean anything)
Check all fuses and relays
Check the fuse box.
Double check that the wire terminals are installed properly and you have a nice tight fit. I've seen people not install them properly, not use enough wire, leave caps on battery post, not tighten the terminal enough.
Check the ignition. Turn the key back and forth a bunch of time and see if that gets it to start. You can tap it with the back of a screw driver handle also.
Well, I finally got this figured out after literally replacing almost all parts on the car. We believe the issue to be something wrong with the key to the ignition. I kept replacing parts and testing voltage and everything that was suggested, which fixed the car each time for about 24hrs then this issue would persist. My sister bought this car new in 2008 and has been the only owner and has always used the exact same key since she bought it. She has the spare key, and just out of curiosity I asked her to start using the other key thinking if it’s a chip key maybe there is an issue with that key. Ever since using the spare key she hasn’t had this starting issue any longer. Just wanted to throw this info out there in case someone else has this crazy issue. The key was literally the last thing I could even think of. Thankfully this seems to have done the trick and we will look into getting the old key replaced so she will have another good spare.