Sam Preston
Member
- Car
- 2004 FX45 AWD
- Name
- Sam
Hey everyone, I'm pretty stumped on why my FX45 is having these issues so any help here is hugely appreciated!
I've owned the car for about 3 weeks, but on the second day of ownership the car refused the start and use gave me one single click whenever I turned the key. All of the lights, wipers, radio, etc worked great so I knew it wasn't a better issue, I ran through a few other checks like replacing the starter relay and trying to start in both park and neutral, but no joy. I deemed it to be the starter. It did actually start up again one more time when I tried it a day later, fairly slow compared to normal but it started up just fine for the most part, but then wouldn't start again after this.
I bought a used but fully functioning starter from a breakers yard semi-nearby, and got a garage to install it (Canadian winter and very little outside space available to install, not ideal!). It stated up great now, much faster than before and all seemed to be well! The battery also had a slight bulge in it, so I swapped this out for a new one just to be on the safe side of things.
But the next day I went out to go collect a dresser for my new place, and the car wouldn't start when I went to leave the seller's house. Everything was looking perfectly fine from my perspective, but it wouldn't start at all, just one single click as before. I panicked for about ten minutes trying to figure out what the problem could be and how I was going to get the car, and dresser, home, before the car started up again as if nothing had happened. The starter kicked in nice and quickly, and the car sounded and drove perfectly from then on. Super weird.
Over the next few days it would do the very same thing; I would be able to start it up no problem after it had been sitting outside all night, and will often be able to turn the car off two or three times before the non-starting issue arrises. Every time it starts up, there's no issues at all. I don't believe the starter is bad, seeing as when it does start up it's super fast and runs like clockwork, but I just find it so strange that I'm only able to turn it on three or four time maximum before the car decides it needs a 5-15 minute break. It will (or has so far) always start up again just fine if I wait 5-15 minutes, as if nothing's happened. But I just can't figure out why this is?
I took it back to the garage to get it checked out a few days ago too, and they weren't able to find anything either. They sanded all of the corrosion off the ground straps and any connections, everything looks to be in great shape.
The only slight issue I have is that the previous owner did something to make the cupholders and whole centre console sticky, which may have possibly found it's way into the gear selector. Very occasionally the car won't read it's in Park when the shifter is in Park, but a quick wiggle of the gear selector brings up the 'P' in the gauges. I don't think this would have any real part to play in my non-starting issue, as it also won't start in neutral when it's having it's episodes.
Does anybody have any ideas?
I've owned the car for about 3 weeks, but on the second day of ownership the car refused the start and use gave me one single click whenever I turned the key. All of the lights, wipers, radio, etc worked great so I knew it wasn't a better issue, I ran through a few other checks like replacing the starter relay and trying to start in both park and neutral, but no joy. I deemed it to be the starter. It did actually start up again one more time when I tried it a day later, fairly slow compared to normal but it started up just fine for the most part, but then wouldn't start again after this.
I bought a used but fully functioning starter from a breakers yard semi-nearby, and got a garage to install it (Canadian winter and very little outside space available to install, not ideal!). It stated up great now, much faster than before and all seemed to be well! The battery also had a slight bulge in it, so I swapped this out for a new one just to be on the safe side of things.
But the next day I went out to go collect a dresser for my new place, and the car wouldn't start when I went to leave the seller's house. Everything was looking perfectly fine from my perspective, but it wouldn't start at all, just one single click as before. I panicked for about ten minutes trying to figure out what the problem could be and how I was going to get the car, and dresser, home, before the car started up again as if nothing had happened. The starter kicked in nice and quickly, and the car sounded and drove perfectly from then on. Super weird.
Over the next few days it would do the very same thing; I would be able to start it up no problem after it had been sitting outside all night, and will often be able to turn the car off two or three times before the non-starting issue arrises. Every time it starts up, there's no issues at all. I don't believe the starter is bad, seeing as when it does start up it's super fast and runs like clockwork, but I just find it so strange that I'm only able to turn it on three or four time maximum before the car decides it needs a 5-15 minute break. It will (or has so far) always start up again just fine if I wait 5-15 minutes, as if nothing's happened. But I just can't figure out why this is?
I took it back to the garage to get it checked out a few days ago too, and they weren't able to find anything either. They sanded all of the corrosion off the ground straps and any connections, everything looks to be in great shape.
The only slight issue I have is that the previous owner did something to make the cupholders and whole centre console sticky, which may have possibly found it's way into the gear selector. Very occasionally the car won't read it's in Park when the shifter is in Park, but a quick wiggle of the gear selector brings up the 'P' in the gauges. I don't think this would have any real part to play in my non-starting issue, as it also won't start in neutral when it's having it's episodes.
Does anybody have any ideas?
