Your Toyota Won’t Start This Winter? Try This First Before Going to a Mechanic

Here’s a reminder of one of the simplest and most common no-start conditions you may experience with your Toyota someday that can fool you.

Hidden No-Start Problem
Your Toyota fails to start up and you look under the hood to inspect the battery to be sure that the battery posts are not covered with the characteristic white, blue-green or even yellowish crud on your battery posts that can interfere with electrical flow. You might even have a battery car battery checker with a load test feature that shows the battery has plenty of charge to it.

Related article: Car Battery Maintenance, Testing, and Replacement with This Ultimate Guide

Scratching your head as you ponder the problem and consider whether or not you really want to crawl under your car to check the battery ground and starter cable wires and their connections, you might want to reconsider your battery post inspection diagnosis. Case in point: by looking a little deeper for a common hidden problem---corrosion under the battery post cable clamps that could have just enough non-visible corrosion to block electrical flow from your battery.

Add Physically Removing Post Connectors to Your Checklist
That was the message in a recent Toyota Maintenance YouTube channel episode where the host, Peter, shows how that even mild battery post corrosion under the connectors is enough to cause your Toyota not to start. This is especially true during the winter months when even new batteries experience reduced cranking power due to low temperatures.

Follow along with Peter as he shows how that even relatively light battery post corrosion in his client's Toyota Matrix can leave you stranded when all it takes is a little more effort when inspecting your battery for the most common winter problem of no-start, no-crank when you turn your car key in the morning.

Toyota Matrix No Crank, No Start

And finally…

For more about battery care, maintenance and problem diagnostics, here are a few informative articles for your consideration:

• Never Buy This Battery Type for Your Car

• Best Car Batteries of 2022 Rated by Consumer Reports

• Toyota Hybrid Owner Experience with an Aftermarket Hybrid Battery

COMING UP NEXT: Unreliable SUVs You Should Never Buy for 2023

Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

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