Starting problems

Tiny
KREW10TIONS
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 TOYOTA COROLLA
  • 1.2L
  • 4 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 163,807 MILES
I changed my starter and car still does not start. No crank no sound what could be the problem?
Monday, January 16th, 2017 AT 6:44 PM

15 Replies

Tiny
JOHNNY G.JR
  • MECHANIC
  • 320 POSTS
First is battery fully charged? Check it with a volt meter, turn key to start, what is the reading on battery?
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Monday, January 16th, 2017 AT 7:00 PM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
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  • 7 POSTS
10.16.
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Monday, January 16th, 2017 AT 8:02 PM
Tiny
JOHNNY G.JR
  • MECHANIC
  • 320 POSTS
Charge your battery slowly overnight and bring it to an auto parts store they will load test it for free, usually. A good battery should read from 12-12.6 or so.
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Monday, January 16th, 2017 AT 8:16 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
What was the original reason that made you change the starter? If you are seeing 10+ volts at the battery with the key in the start position that starter should be spinning. Unless you have something like a bad neutral start switch or cable connection.

Now if that ten volts was just, open the hood and test the voltage with the key off follow Johnny's advice and get it load tested, ten volts usually indicates a very low battery or a bad cell in that battery.
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 3:12 AM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
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  • 7 POSTS
Okay, I figured it out its my neutral safety switch. I had to manually put it back in gear to start it up. My question is how can I tell if it is my neutral switch or the cable not engaging?
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 2:23 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
NSS is easy to test. Car should start in park or neutral. Signs of a worn switch would be that it won't start in park but starts in neutral. Or you may need to move the lever in/out of park multiple times to get it to start. On your vehicle it is a very easy item to change. It's located under the hood on the drivers side of the transaxle. 2 bolts hold it on and one nut that holds the shift lever on the shaft.

The cables I was referring to would be battery cables. They tend to corrode inside the insulation and look just fine but they are actually bad.
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 3:04 PM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
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  • 7 POSTS
So you cleared it with me. I definitely knows it's not my neutral safety switch cause it starts in park. Then it must be the cable that is attached to it is broken cause when I am in my car and try to engage my shifter into gear it does not engage into the other gears while I am stepping on the brakes. Instead when I shift it into other gears it still remains in park. Is it the cable?
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 4:57 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
If you are moving the lever inside and it is not shifting into the proper gear I would check the shift linkage on the trans end. As I said there is only a single nut that holds the lever on. If that got loose you could not shift gears. The actual cables rarely break. Usually it is the connection points that fail.
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 6:34 PM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
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  • 7 POSTS
Is it the nut that connects the shift cable to the lever or the lever to the safety switch? How do I check the nut I tried hand turning the nuts? But they both seem tight.
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 7:33 PM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
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  • 7 POSTS
Is it the manual switch retaining nut your talking about? I had to step on my brake and from inside engage shifter into neutral while partner outside push down on the transmission linkage to engage back into park gear to get car started. Once started from inside and stepping on brakes I tried to put gear into other gears but not locking/engaging into other gears.
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 7:40 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
When you move the lever inside the car, does the lever mounted on the transmission move? If not then it might be the interior shift linkage bushing as in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-oabXBKGig
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+1
Tuesday, January 17th, 2017 AT 11:27 PM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Update: Glad to say that I have came to a conclusion as to fixing the issue I was facing with my 2003 corolla. It most certainly was my interior shift linkage bushing that had became brittle and cracked off. I replaced the rubber bushing with a 3/8" e clip now it's working fine. Thanks for all the help & support through a time that can be so frustrating but a learning experience as well. Greatly appreciated to have found this site useful & will definitely use this site again for future reference if need be.
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Wednesday, January 18th, 2017 AT 11:35 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Great job.

Thank you for using 2CarPros. Com.
Please return with any auto related questions, we're here to help.
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Thursday, January 19th, 2017 AT 2:38 AM
Tiny
KREW10TIONS
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Hi I have a question. My 2003 corolla started to idle low now it won't start. I try to start it but it trys to turn over but won't start
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Saturday, February 4th, 2017 AT 9:39 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
Please enter that as a new question. That will get more people involved to help.

Off the top of my head it sounds like the IAC needs to be cleaned or replaced if it tests bad.
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Sunday, February 5th, 2017 AT 6:23 PM

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