Hello everyone!

I'm sorry to be the new guy immediately posting my trouble...but I am planning on staying a while, and hopefully contributing more in the future.

So, about 2 weeks ago, my TL wouldn't start, and I pop the hood and take a look. The battery was old, but not too old (about 3 years old.) So it was a nuisance, but I replaced the battery, and all was good. I drove the car the rest of the weekend without a problem. And last weekend, I drove the car again out on errands with no problems. Several turns of the starting system with nothing at all erratic.

Today, however, I go to start it, and it was dead again. When I turned the key, I get no activity at all, no clicks, nothing. I flagged down a friendly passer by, he gave the car a jump start. While the cables were connected, the electrics were all functional (we did turn everything off for the jump though, obviously.) After letting the cables sit for a few minutes to get a good charge, my car would start to turn over (it was trying real hard) but then it would stop trying and revert to a fast clicking.

Obviously something needs to be replaced, but I don't have a lot of knowledge in this area. If it were the alternator, would the brand new battery hold enough of a charge to get me through through two weekends of driving (i don't drive the car during the week, usually.) I honestly don't know the difference between the starter and the solenoid, but I read elsewhere on the internet that "brass contacts" can wear out and cause something like the rapid clicking. That the car would not start even with a jump kind of makes me think it isn't the alternator. So my question is what needs to be replaced and roughly how much effort is involved (so I can gauge the expense...I can't do this myself, I'm not very knowledgeable with fixing cars to be honest.)

Also, a brief explanation of how the starter, starter motor, solenoid, and "brass contacts" all relate would be AWESOME. I wish I knew more about his, but the silver lining is that now is my time to learn!

 

some symptoms:

1> turn the key and if the lights dim/you hear a ticking noise - battery is gone
2> turn the key and if the lights dont dim/no ticking noise - starter is gone

once you get a jump, i would drive straight to Advance Auto Parts....they will check ur complete electrical system for FREE and will tell you if the battery needs replacement....

did the same for my girls lexus....battery died, took it in for a check....stood in store and placed an online order for the battery (use code BATX for 25% off)....selected pick up in store....within 2 minutes they got the order, dude installed the stuff on my girls car in the meantime....walked out paying $80