clubharriet@yahoo.com

The van got parked for 5 months and was running when it was parked. The battery died and we attempted to jump it but it wouldn't take a charge. So we put our truck battery in there and got a new battery for the truck. When my boyfriend went to start the van, the interior light came on and the sound that indicates the door is open came on but the engine didn't turn over. It made a whirring sound.

My boyfriend thinks the battery has enough juice to turn the engine over and we don't understand why it isn't starting since it ran when it was parked. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

Try jumping it with your truck.

 

Hi. Thanks for replying. We tried jumping it with a friends car. We charged the battery with a trickle charge cord. We only have jumper cables for a car. Does it matter if we use car jumper cables for a van?

 

No. Just make sure the battery + is to battery +, and - frame is to the frame of the other car. I'd also suggest make sure you have a good connection.

 

So you don't think there is anything wrong with the starter? I can't imagine something would have gone while we weren't even driving it...thanks so much for your input.

 

I don't know as i can't diagnose " whirring sound". Is the starter turning, not engaging, clicking? If the whirring sound is from the motor turning, but not engaging, I'd say the bendix spring. Take a soft hammer to the end of the starter it might just be stuck. Don't "beat" it, just tap it.

 

I cant hear the engine at all. The van makes a very soft sound when I turn the key. It's like a soft hair dryer type of sound. I didn't hear any clicking.

I can't try to jump it just yet bc my boyfriend is home but we're def gonna try that.

 

Take a rubber mallet to the starter on the end that goes into the engine, The bendix spring (sounds like) isn't engaging, and the starter is turning.

 

I cant find the starter motor and i do t know what it looks like. Can you give me some more detail on how to locate it? We gave it a jump and it def has a bettery with juice and it still didn't start so I'm thinking the problem is the bendix spring like you said. We just can't locate it.

 

We found something under the van on the passenger side that looks like a starter motor (we googled an image of one) but where is the bendix spring? Can you give me a detailed account of where it is and what it looks like? Sorry for our ignorance but we don't know much of anything about vans.