Car won't start any ideas
 

My Sc did not start at all this afternoon after driving around all of yesterday. Turned the key all the way to the right and did not here any sound whatsoever.

radio lights etc come on but the car won't rev.

The car car was recently serviced and everything is in tip top shape.

Has anyone experienced something like this before?

car is 2006 sc430

thank you!

1. Do the headlights DIM when you turn the key?

2. Are you hearing a clink under the hood -- i.e. solenoid contacting the flywheel

3.. How about the lights on the NAV, climate control, and dash lights?

This could be a park/neutral switch problem. The engine will not be allowed to crank if the car does not "think" it is in park/neutral. The relationship between which lights go out will diagnose if this is the problem..

If the park/neutral safety switch is not enabled, then upon turning the key, the lights on the NAV and climate control will go off (NAV power cycles), BUT the dash lights stay on.

If the park/neutral switch is engaged (i.e. you are in park/neutral and the car knows that), turning the key will cause the dash lights and the NAV and the climate control to go dark during the key turn process.

Diagnose as follows.

Turn key:
1. If no change in any lights (dash/NAV/Climate) = ignition switch itself is bad.
2. If NAV/Climate lights go out, but dash light stays on = park/neutral safety switch is not engaged (i.e. car does not think it is in park/neutral) but ignition switch is good
3. All lights go out, still no crank = something farther down the line, but safety switch and ignition switch are good.

how old is the battery?

is there Water in the battery?

any acid forming on the battery terminals?

try jumping the car...does it start? If yes, you need a battery.

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Thank you both. When turning on the car the dash lights went on initially as did climate control. Nav screen did not open. After all lights on dash went off except the check engine light and all that was left on climate control was the time.

I'm not sure about the age of the battery the car is a 06 model with 70k miles that I bought a couple of miles ago. It was just at the shop for regular service and everything (including battery) was said to be fine.

Ive posted a few pics of the battery here as well. I will try to jump start later today from my Infiniti M. Any issues with jumping these cars or can it be done? I'm not car saavy at all so really appreciate the help.

If i jump successfully shluld i take the car to autozone and ask them to replace my battery or am I better off to have that done at firestone. I could always go to the dealer in my area as well on Monday but if it's an easy fix would love to save some money.

thanks again!

The #1 thing we are asking about will get us to the health of the battery. I'm not sure what you mean by initially dash lights. The headlights are a huge draw on the battery. Do they work? What happens to the brightness of the headlights when you turn the key?

Definitely jump the battery -- there is nothing special to know. Maybe you left a door open or a dome light on and simply ran down the battery. OTOH, this car is known for being very very hard on batteries (perhaps due to the battery placement in the hottest part of the engine compartment) so it may be time for a new battery. Replacement is extremely simple if you want to do it yourself -- it takes one wrench: Undo cables, undo battery holder, lift out. Drop in new one. Re-attach. 10 minutes tops.

thank you for the reply! The headlights would turn on and seemed to dim over time. "Initially dash lights" = meant to say that the indicator lights on the dash would come on (warning lights) but then turn off.

i jump started the battery and car started right away. I took the car to autozone and they tested the battery and told me it's fine, just needs to be charged. Looks like something must have drained it. Does leaving the lights in the "auto setting" drain it, should I be turning them to off?

The battery brand seems odd, tech said brand was "New World.." something, not one he has ever heard of

...just keep a close eye on the battery, although it tested fine, it may be a little lower than needed to start the car. This could happen because of all the electronics on the Sc that need memory, even when the vehicle is not in use.......like stated before, this vehicle can be a parasite & drain batteries....lol........also, I've never heard of New World Batteries, maybe someone can chime in

Leaving the lights on the auto setting should not drain the battery overnight. It may shorten the time the battery will hold up (maybe down to two or three weeks) but definitely not down to overnight. More than likely there was an interior light left on either by the on/off switch or by a door or trunk being ajar. Best way to prevent that in the future is to replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Leaving the lights on will still drain the battery but the drain time will go from day(s) down to weeks.

Should I consider just replacing it? Really don't want this to go dead when I'm out of town or something :)

when replacing the battery do all the setting get wiped or is there a way to do it without that happening? Not sure if that's something I can do at home or will I need to buy an extra part to keep some kind of current in the settings to keep them from being erased?

....it would be something to consider, especially if it doesn't start again in the morning. The memory will last for a little while, when changing a battery, but I don't know the exact amount of time. I have swapped out or disconnected the battery before & didn't lose the settings, but it wasn't for a long period of time

I have heard people have problems with the lights in the trunk not going out.

The remedy is to either take out the trunk lights (Probably overkill) or make sure your trunk is securely closed.

If you haven't added any new electronics recently, I would check your trunk.

P.S. Did autozone charge your battery for you? They do that as a free service.

P.S.S. I am happy autozone told you the battery was fine. I have NEVER gone to autozone where they told me my battery wasn't bad, but that I was in luck because they had a replacement I could buy.

If the battery is 2 or more years old I'd replace it. I always buy batteries at Walmart or Costco. Almost every US made wet cell lead acid battery, regardless of brand, is made by just two battery manufactures. Brand of battery is 90% marketing hype.

Just make sure you get the biggest highest cranking amp battery that will fit and that it has a 3 year full replacement warranty.

The batteries sold with longer "prorated" warranties (not full replacement) are not worth it. Careful inspection of the fine print on any pro-rated battery's warranty will show a savvy buyer that they are a worthless scam.

For about $100, a new battery is pretty cheap to avoid the consequences. Many here use the Interstate Megatron Plus (#MTP-48/H6). As Jaberwock mentioned you want the biggest capacity that fits. The seat memory gets wiped out and maybe the radio during a battery change. Not worth the hassle of a tender during the change, imho.

Many also carry a Jump-N-Carry in the trunk. Then you can just jump it yourself in the case of a problem. The little one is fine (JNC300XL) and fits pretty good in the little well on either side of the trunk behind the tail light.

Had the same problem a few times a couple of months ago. Mine is an 08 with what I think was the original battery, yours looks exactly like mine did. Took to the dealer and they said the battery just needed charging which they did and I drove approx. 50 miles plus and parked in my garage. Two days later it wouldn't start again so had to jump again...Took it back to dealer and replaced the battery. All good now, no problem starting.

Thanks for the support everyone, really appreciate it.

i'm going to proactively replace the battery just to avoid any issues, especially since the battery is old (if it is indeed the original).

As far as replacement options, I've done a search and it looks like a few of you are using either the Interstate or Duralast. Any particular preference or can't go wrong with either one?