Small sound on pressing Ignition. Wont start
 

Hi,
I go to my car in the morning and it wont start. All the electronics (window, door, Nav, etc) are working. Battery checked and is fine. When I push the ignition button, a small sound for like a second and then dies down (looks like engine tries to start but doesnt start). Tried a few times and now the brake pedal is also stuck. Wont press down.

Background: It happened Dec 2010 but back then when I pushed button, nothing happened at all. They said it was BCM short. Dealer fixed it but it was under warranty. Now I am out of warranty :(

Any thoughts on this? Has it happened to anyone before? I took it to dealer but I am scared of how much $$ are they gonna charge. Would anything be still covered under warranty (3 yr warranty expired in May)

Thank you

Ignition goes to ACC and to ON but won't start? I was going to say steering lock but if that fails I'm pretty sure you can't even get to the ON mode.

The noise you hear is probably the fuel pump priming, this is normal. However is sounds like the starter solenoid or relay is bad.

When you checked the battery voltage what was it? Remember that for a lead acid battery anything at or below 12V is considered dead. If you have room you can try jumper cables or a battery charger.

Just gave it to the dealer in the morning and they called and said its the battery....I swear I checked it with multimeter and it was 12.5V. So I ruled out the battery option...there go my $189.

They also asking $71 for airfilter and $55 for balance....which I promptly said no...
I should have tried jumping it...I was just afraid coz they said the last time and if you try starting it too many times, you can potentially short the circuits inside....

Thank you Chris...your diagnosis is pretty correct....I wish I jumped the car once....


Thanks

There is an occasional condition with a battery that can occur where the battery voltage shows normal but it is unable to produce a significant amount of current (voltage will drop to near zero when current is pulled). It can also happen if there is poor terminal contact due to corrosion etc.

On the bright side at least it was just the battery.