Hello,

I'm having some problems with my car- it's a 96 Intrepid, 3.3 L, V6 with 136k miles. I bought it last year, and it has some serious steering issues, but other than that it has always run well. A few weeks ago, it died in the store's parking lot (engine turned over but didn't catch). After some trial and error, I replaced the crank sensor, and it ran fine for about 2 weeks. Then a week ago, it just died. When I tried to start it, there was just a sound like a click and then nothing. The lights work, windshield wipers, etc, so I'm pretty sure it's not the battery. My husband took the starter out (it's a combo starter/ solenoid) and we brought it to Advance Auto Parts, and they said the starter was dead, so we bought a new one, and my husband installed it, but nothing changed with the new starter. It still clicks once, and then nothing.

After a thorough internet search, I'm coming up empty. The symptoms suggest a bad starter, but it's brand new! Also, a few days before this happened, we had our brakes changed, and within a day the car was shaking and jumping whenever I decelerated (not just braking, but even just letting off the gas). I'm not sure if that's connected to the starting problem, it just seems weird I've had the car this long with no issues, and now everything is happening at once.

Any advice you can offer would be helpful, we don't know a lot about cars, but I know if I take it in somewhere I won't get a straight answer, there aren't any shops around here that I trust. I'm hesitant to test the wiring, because the guides on it are a little... technical... for me, I've yet to find a "car repair for complete morons" guide. I'm afraid of doing serious damage to my car or myself by misunderstanding what I'm supposed to be doing!

Thank you for your time!

Remove and fully charge, or replace, the battery. My bet is that the battery should be replaced, especially with those cold Ohio winters fast approaching. This link should help:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-selected-other-vehicles-46563-3.html#post235560

Advance Auto Parts will test and charge batteries for free. Rule #1: Whenever you have an electrical issue with your vehicle, remove and charge the battery. You need to establish a "known good baseline." Lights, radio, and windshield wipers working is not nearly good enough. You need heavy-duty amperage to start an engine.

Once you solve these problems, and your confidence is restored in the car, start using full-synthetic SAE 5W-30 engine oil (e.g. Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum). Cold and hot weather performance is greatly improved. It's also easier on the battery and starter motor, plus you'll get slightly better gas mileage. This link may be of interest:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-selected-other-vehicles-46563-12.html#post2162069

Thanks- my husband tested the battery with his Volt meter and it reads as 12.46v (it's a 12v battery) so he says it's fully charged. We've swapped out the starter relay with the wipers relay (same part number, and we know the wipers work) and that changed nothing... We're moving in a week and need to decide if it's worth fixing or if we should just junk it. We just don't want to junk it if it's some stupid problem that can be easily solved. It's so frustrating!

Have a 96 dodge intrepid with the same problem changed starter and battery and another switch of some kind still nothing it clicked once now nothing if anyone has an idea would love to hear it this car is all I got can't afford another one

Well what my problem ended up being was there was a ground wire that went on the bottom screw of the starter, but because my husband took the starter out when it was dark, he hadn't seen it so didn't know to reconnect it. So I guess check the wires and make sure they're attached correctly. It took us HOURS to figure it out, we were using a voltmeter to check everything like retards, lol. There are really only a few things that it CAN be if it's not even turning over, and changing the starter and testing the battery are eliminating the 2 biggest.

Same problem here,, single slick only. Replaced the battery with a new one, and changed the starter... still same problem.. Thinking it has to be some kind of electrical connection problem of some sort. Whether being a bad ground or something.

First make sure you have a good ground the negative. Clean battery terminal so good contact is establish.