2008 Scion tC won't start..
 

I am new to this forum thing so please forgive me for posting another "my car won't start" post. The only reason I am is, because I haven't come across one that has my situation in it. I know nothing about cars and I'm hoping someone can help or has had the same problem and can give advice.

So I bought my tC back in April 2014. Everything was fine, had no problem.. loved the car.. Thn the problems started. First was the check engine light.. went to autozone they said a bad gas cap. I replaced it and everything was okay.

Month or so later I had slide in the rain and hit a curb, had to replace the lower control arm and a wheel bearing.. but a ding started after this happened.. I didn't pay much attention to it because the check engine light didn't come on or anything like that.

A month ago my fiance was driving it around.. he parked and ran an errand when he came back out to the car it wouldn't start.. he called an uncle who "has worked on cars before" he tested the battery and the started and said they were both good.. believes it has something to do with the starter.

To get it started again he took a copper wire put one end in the starter and rubbed the other end on the positive side of the battery and it started right up. Told my fiance that that is how we were gonna need to start it until it was fixed..

Well starting it that way was not only scare to me but seemed wildly dangerous and not good for the car so I never tried it after that.. until just recently when I was told I could trade it in for something more affordable..

We tried starting it that way but it wouldn't kick over.. just kept trying and trying but wouldn't actually start.

Just wondering if anyone had any ideas on what could be wrong?

And I apologize for this being so long!


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Oh.. I forgot to mention my fiance said the check engine light came on before he turned it off and it wouldn't start the first time.

Soooooo.

You had this problem, decided to hotwire it to get it going? (nothing like playing with batteries!) then decided it was probably not good and parked the car for a while?

If that's the case, you still have the original problem, but the car after sitting that long likely killed the battery. Which even if hotwired won't start the car. Replace/charge the battery and it should hotwire up just fine.

If the starter works, chances are the problem lies somewhere in the ignition system. Check fuses first; since that is what you bypassed to get it going.

Check your grounds
 

My 2012 xB with low mileage wouldn't start 10% of the time. I ran a new ground wire from the neg battery terminal to the starter mounting bolt and it starts quick every time.
Try jumping it but instead of using your neg battery terminal put the negative jumper cable on the motor and see if it starts.
If it does you need a ground wire or repair your grounds! It's easier to run a new ground wire because the car has many different ground locations.

Good luck!

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