Can it be my starter, battery or alternator?

20

Asked by Whitney Dec 14, 2020 at 09:17 AM about the 2006 Chevrolet Malibu LS FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

2006 Chevy Malibu All lights come on when trying
to crank it makes a click sound. Is it the starter?
Battery is good alternator is good.

6 Answers

15

normally when you crank an engine and the starter "clicks" it has low power voltage. even tho you said the battery is good, try putting the car on a battery charger wait about 10 minutes and try again, or jump-start with another running vehicle. if that doesn't work you might have a bad starter solenoid.

15

normally when a starter "clicks" it has low battery voltage. even tho you said the battery is good try putting it on a battery charger for about 10 minutes, or jump-starting with another running vehicle. if that doesn't work and it still clicks, you have a bad starter solenoid.

15

normally when a starter "clicks" it has low battery voltage. even tho you said the battery is good try putting it on a battery charger for about 10 minutes, or jump-starting with another running vehicle. if that doesn't work and it still clicks, you have a bad starter solenoid.

15

normally when a starter "clicks" it has low battery voltage. even tho you said the battery is good try putting it on a battery charger for about 10 minutes, or jump-starting with another running vehicle. if that doesn't work and it still clicks, you have a bad starter solenoid.

15

normally when a starter "clicks" it has low battery voltage. even tho you said the battery is good try putting it on a battery charger for about 10 minutes, or jump-starting with another running vehicle. if that doesn't work and it still clicks, you have a bad starter solenoid.

27,570

Have you tried using a jump box or jumper cables to start? You can use a digital multimeter to do some basic testing. Meter leads across battery posts, everything off, the generic spec for a full charge is 12.6 volts, if much below that, put a charger on it. You can check voltage at generator bat terminal, engine running, generally I like to see as much over 13 volts as I can get at idle with loads turned on. If you think it's a starter problem, you can take starter off, lay it on the ground, hook up jumper cables properly from battery to starter motor, at the least, it should kick out the drive gear and spin. Of course that's a no load test. I wouldn't replace anything unless your testing points in that direction.

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