My car used to start up just fine and the other day I went to start it and it doesn't even try to start, all you hear is a click click sound. Anyone know what the problem is? I have a 91 Camaro RS. I don't know a whole lot about cars but I'm learnin and this is my first car (I'm only 16) and I'm tryin to get it to pass emission and inspection. Thanks for any help.

 

sounds like the starter went out on ya. That happened to me quite a few times. Have the starter tested

 

If it is a series of clicks then try replacing your battery. If it is one click or no sound then it's possibly your starter. When it comes to starting your try the simplist fix first. I say go with the battery first.

 

I would have to agree with 85z285.0...... I would say its most likely your battery as my Camaro has done that before. But change the battery first its ALOT easier! lol anyways tell us all how it goes. Good luck

 

Clickclickclick like a little machine gun? BATTERY.

Turn key.......CLICK. Turn key. CLICK. Turn key. CLICK. ...starter.

 

Cheap and easy checks first. Check batt conections GM side post are prone to corrosion and leakage. then check conections at starter. Clean all as necessary and try again. then move on to a battery test, then starter test and on down the line eliminating the cheapest first.

 

Battery tests are BS, and can easily be fooled by a battery that has been comepletely discharged due to a bad alternator. Get a cheap battery charger if you don't have one (everyone should have one anyway) and make sure it has a 2 amp trickle charge. charge it for half on hour on normal charge rate, should be between 10 and 30 amp, and see if it takes the charge, if not, do a trickle charge overnight, up to about 12 hours, then check it, if it's taken any of the charge, run the 10-30 amp for another half hour after cooling the battery for a while. Check it then. If it still doesn't hold a charge THEN you can say it's a bad battery. If it does take the charge, I'd check for parasitic draw. You do this by disconnecting the negative battery terminal, put the positive lead of an ampmeter on the cable, and the negative on the terminal. If you get more than a 30 miliamp current with the car off for at least 1 minute, you have a parasitic draw somewhere in the car. Reconect the negative terminal, start pulling fuses and checking amperage accross the fuse box. If you don't have a parasitic draw, bench test the alternator.

 

Whenever I turn the key it just goes... click, so it must be the starter. I don't have a battery charger but I think it's been really low since I bought the car and my neighbor let me borrow his to recharge it and I haven't had any problems since then until now. So if what ScottD says is true then I need a new starter. Thanks for all your help.

 

Get it bench tested first. Most large chain parthouses do it for free anyway, and if you do need one, you'll have the old part there for the core already.

 

Make this whole thing simple. Try jump starting the car, just make sure to connect the cables properly. If the car now starts, your battery is dead. If it does not start, the starter is bad.