Frozen Starter?

[Rhonda]

It's very cold here, lots of snow. At first my Beretta would at least whine while trying to start it. Now, when I turn the key, no noise at all. I know the solenoid is getting juice. It sparked when being touched ( by accident I touched the connections)
Any ideas?

Thank you,
Rhonda

[Money pit Beretta]

The whine would be the fuel pump. If it is no longer doing that then it has failed or a relay is bad. Rhonda what year is your car?

Looked it up 1991 3.1 V6.
I'd go after the relay first. Can't remember which one it is though. Can anybody else help?

[DTMAce]

Well, lets go for the obvious stuff first...

Battery. Getting enough juice to cause a spark vs having enough to do anything are 2 different things. Try jumping the battery from another vehicle or swapping it out, to eliminate that.

Connections. Make sure the battery terminals are tight and free of corrosion. This is a common issue for making a car not start, but simple things like a dome light would come on. Look for any loose wiring, unplugged connectors, and check the ground connections, both on the tranny and the firewall I believe..

Fuses. Most overlooked cause of problems are blown fuses, check for this as well. Any blown fuse in the panel should be indicated by a darkening or burn look to them.

Starter. Hit it with a hammer, just in case it actually IS froze. Sometimes moisture can get into the starter and then it freezes and can lock the thing from moving.

You say you used to have a whine, and now you don't.. The whine as MPB stated above is commonly caused by the pump kicking in, building pressure then shutting down. So if that stopped, then the pump may not be going, or if the battery is weak it is turning much slower and is quieter as a result.

I would check fuses, connections, then the battery condition, then test the fuel pump via its relay if the first three are good.

But whine or not, your starter should still crank, just that if the pump isn't going, your engine won't start up and run. It would just crank.

I think you have a fuse, connection or battery issue. Let me know if this helps or not.

Good luck.

[Rhonda]

Sorry, allow me please to correct myself. The car was cranking, and now dead silence, even with new jumper cables on the battery. I'll check the connections as best I can. We are having a storm today with rain and snow and sleet. I have a book, but I think it might be out in the car.

Slippery out!!

[DTMAce]

What do you mean by "new jumper cables on the battery"?

Are you saying that you had another vehicle that hooked up to your vehicle with jumper cables and tried to give you a jump start, or that you replaced the battery terminals ends with new ones?

Sounds like either a bad battery or a bad connection to me.

[mickaz]

what happened to her happened to me. Its starter froze its very likely possible when the starter sat in lot of snow and the starter was hot then it got really cold. and when I tried starting it It was a loud whine. the only way I did start mine was by trying several time with 1 sec wait between the try ( not to stress too much the battery.) try it will eventually start, but do not hold the starter in the start position or you can damage your electrical system.

[DTMAce]

If this is the case, then as I said in my first post, you need to give the starter a smack with a hammer it will often break it loose. But yeah, it is also possible she burnt the starter out if it really was frozen.

[Money pit Beretta]

Solenoid not engaging. That would cause the whine. Tap it when trying to start. Also it may be a good idea to replace it. Or you can get a new starter if you want an it will come with a solenoid. It's all about the money you have on hand and if you can find a good replacement starter.
Sorry when most people talk about a whine they are talking about the fuel pump. I just think of that first.

[Rhonda]

Thank you to all who replied.

It was in fact the starter. Because it is so freezing cold outside, I had my little retta towed and the starter replaced.

1991 2.3 6 cylinder Chevy Beretta.

[Money pit Beretta]

Glad to hear that it's been taken care of!