I HAVE 2000 BUICK LESABRE AND IT WILL NOT START BUT EVERYTHING BATTERY OPERATED WORKS LIKE THE LIGHTS, WINDOWS AND RADIO BUT WHEN I TRY TO START THE ENGINE IT JUST CLICKS AND WONT START...I GOT A NEW BATTERY AND THEN THE CAR WORKED AGAIN FOR TWO DAYS AND THEN IT DID THE SAME THING AGAIN THE ENGINE WOULDNT START JUST THE BATTERY OPERATED THING....SO I KNOW IT ISNT THE BATTERY SO WHAT COULD BE THE PROBLEM??

The starter itself is going bad. the internals of it are most likely corroded and are causing a voltage drop so installing the new battery help for a little bit but now it must have gotten worse. so a replacement start is needed but also you will need to check you connection at the battery and at the starter. seeing this could cause the same problem. let me know if you have any more questions.

If the battery is OK, the starter solenoid, starter cables or the starter motor itself could be a problem. Check the negative ground cable. They can become loose, corroded and can only give enough power for lights but not start the car.

Hope this help.

There are several things it can be. There is a solenoid for the starter that connects the starter to the battery. If this part is worn it will behave exactly like yours. Starters can have a bad spot and this is also how they act when the bad spot rotates to contact the brushes inside the starter. The power required to turn the starter can be measured while the engine is cranking.

The negative cable from the battery should bolt to the engine. If the end of this cable is loose or corroded, it will affect the ground for the starter. You can unscrew the bolt slightly, move the wire and then retighten the bolt. The reason you have power to other things is some cables have a second smaller wire on them for those items.

Now Autozone and Oreillys will scan your car for free and can check the starter current and the computer. One trick to getting a few extra starts out of your starter is to tap the starter with a brick or back of a hammer to loosen corrosion. Check the battery terminals again, sometimes they will not tighten enough to power the starter.

Good Luck and thanks for using Fixya.

Hello, it sounds to me like your alternator isn't charging the battery. That is why the new battery only worked for two days. A new fully charged battery would last about that long. I would suggest having the battery charged and then take the vehicle somewhere and have the alternator tested. Also carefully inspect the battery cables for corrosion or damage.

It sounds like it would be the starter