Haven't posted here for a while but man I've ran into an issue with my TL. So my TL hasn't been starting lately. The issue was on and off where I would hear a click and the lights would flicker. And what I did was jump start the car, and my negative terminal would come loose so I would tighten that. This happened for about a week. Then I would drive somewhere, go back to my car, and it wouldn't start. I'd get it to start by just trying to start it and thought it was the starter, and got that replaced. It started like a champ the next few times I drove it. I didn't drive it for a week and then same thing happened where it didn't start. I thought it was the battery so I tried jumping it and it didn't work. Now I got a new battery and it's still not starting. All I hear is a clicking noise when I try to start it. I attached a picture and the video where you can hear the clicking noise, so wondering what you guys think.

 

what brand starter and who did the install?

 

the positive battery cable looks corroded. probably needs to be replaced

 

i went to a mechanic in the area and they put in a aftermarket starter

 

aftermarket starter might be the cause.

 

Replace the positive cable anyways. I hate those universal battery terminals. (and yet use them all the time)

Is it automatic? If so put it in neutral and see if it will start.

I would be a good idea to put a test light on the starter and see if it receives the power when you try to start it. Wouldn't be the first time that new part was bad.

 

This may be too obvious, but.....Rather than keep on replacing components have you considered investing in a good set of meters (volt/ohm and amp). The issue clearly appears to be electrical. With the volt meter you'll be able to get a better handle on the status of the battery at the time of failure (fully charged?? or drawn down??... perhaps a parasite draw, from phone/voice unit). The ohm meter will give you an idea if your cables are good... including ground. The amp meter will give you an idea of what the starter is drawing when you attempt to turn the engine over.

In a way I'm surprised that your shop already hasn't run these tests. Perhaps they have, but it is very rare that ALL of the items that you've replaced (battery, starter, etc) fail at the same time. Proper troubleshooting should find the true root cause of your problem. Guesswork (parts replacing) can be hit or miss.

 

happens to me too, I don't plan till it's too late. while inspecting the car, I'll be like...yeah yeah, the battery cables look okay....no need to replace...and then when they finally break from corrosion, the only thing open is the autozone across the street. lol

 

If not the battery, it's more than likely that the + battery cable is corroded internally where you can't see. Only use a genuine OEM replacement as they're relatively cheap compared to other OEM parts.
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