A Brief Guide to Your Vehicle’s Starting System

Your vehicle’s starting system is comprised of several individual components that work together in order to crank your engine. It includes your battery, ignition switch, starter relay, and starter motor. When you stick your key into the ignition and turn it, an electrical current is generated. This current travels to the starter relay and makes its way through your battery cables. When the electrical current arrives at the starter motor, your engine is cranked.

Getting to this point does not necessarily mean your car’s engine will start. That depends on whether there is sufficient air, compression, and spark within each cylinder’s combustion chamber. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the components that crank your engine. That way, you’ll have a better idea where to start troubleshooting if starting problems occur.

The Battery

Your vehicle’s battery serves a number of different functions; all of them involve the production, transfer, or storage of an electrical current. For example, the battery is responsible for delivering a charge to your car’s ignition system while you’re trying to crank the engine. It’s also tasked with delivering a current when your alternator cannot handle the demand placed upon it.

Inside this component is a blend of water and sulfuric acid. Both contribute to the production of hydrogen gas while your battery is charging. You should periodically inspect your battery to make sure it is securely held in its cradle Autel Maxisys MS906BT, and that corrosion has not accumulated on the terminals. Corrosion can hamper the transfer of the electrical current.

The Ignition Switch

The job of your car’s ignition switch is to allow you to send a current when you insert your key. In most vehicles, there are five distinct settings: locked, off, run, start, and accessories.

In the “locked” position, every circuit remains open. That means there is no connection through which an electrical current can travel. You’ll notice that your steering wheel is locked in this setting. The “off” setting is similar; the only difference is that you’ll be able to turn your steering wheel.

In the “run” setting, all but one of the circuits are closed, allowing the current to travel through; the exception is the starter circuit. When your ignition switch is in the “start” position, the current is delivered to the starter motor, thus cranking your engine. Lastly, in the “accessories” setting, a charge is delivered everywhere, except through your starter circuit. In this position, you’ll notice your radio and power windows are working, but not your engine.

The Neutral Safety Switch And Starter Relay

Your car’s neutral safety switch is the component that controls whether the starter circuit is closed or open. If your vehicle has an automatic transmission, the circuit will remain closed whenever you are in “Park” or “Neutral.” Otherwise, the circuit will stay open.

The starter relay is a leveraging component. It receives a small electrical current from the ignition switch and uses it to power the starter, which generates a much larger current. In a way, the starter relay is an intermediary. It precludes placing the burden of generating a large current (i.e. hundreds of amps) on the ignition switch. In a lot of vehicles, a starter solenoid is installed to handle the same task.

The Starter Motor

The starter motor is the part that ultimately generates the charge necessary to crank your car’s engine. It is connected to the battery’s positive terminal with a thick cable that can handle the current.

If you turn your key in the ignition and hear your car’s engine cranking over, but it fails to start, the problem is not with your starting system. The fact that your engine cranked means every component described above is doing its job autel obd1 scanner. On the other hand, if you hear nothing or hear a clicking sound, something in your starting system has failed.

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