If you have been driving long enough, you have most likely experienced having a vehicle die on you and when you go to start it, it won’t start. There are some troubleshooting tips that will help you to decipher what is the most probable cause of the problem, saving you big money on auto repairs at the service station or dealership.   on you, you try to start it and it just   will not start.  You end up calling a tow truck and paying those big tow bills, then to make matters worse the technician at the shop tells you that it will cost hundreds of dollars to make it run again,.

If, for example, you are driving at night with, lights and radio on and you notice that the headlights keep getting dimmer and dimmer soon the vehicle “dies” and now won’t start the most likely cause is a bad alternator, not the battery because if the battery failed the alternator would still keep power to the vehicle until you turned it off then it would not restart.

If you are driving for a while and the engine stops running and all the instrument lights come on but when you try to start it just turns over but will not start. First it depends what kind of car you have, , the engine timing belt may have broken (if it’s been more that 60,000 miles since you changed it last time) if so, you should be able to tell when you try to start the engine it sounds different like it’s just “freewheeling” faster than normal.  Be aware that severe engine damage could occur when a timing belt breaks when the engine is running, it is advisable to change the belt as part of regular maintenance as recommended in your Toyota owner’s manual.

If you decide to trade in that old car or truck that won’t start instead of paying to get it fixed, see   your local Spirit Toyota Dealer in St. Louis today .