What's wrong with my car? - 5

I have an old Ford Taurus. Somewhere between 98 and 02. It's been sitting for about a year. Before I stopped driving it the engine light came on and the diagnostic tool I attached to it said it was the throttle. Today I went to jump it so I can get it up and running again. Everything turned on but it wouldn't start. It was making a weird noise as it was trying to start but it just couldn't do it. After I disconnected the jumper cables I tried to turn it on and it wouldn't do anything. The previous owners took great care of the car and it always ran very well for me. Even after the engine light came on it ran almost prefect. I can't hook the diagnostic tool I have to it cuz the car has to start for it to do a reading. Any ideas? Could it just need a new battery or something more mechanical?

The battery is dead because it sat for a year. Jumping it won't fix that. It won't start because it isn't getting fuel or spark or both.

Are you willing to fix it and get it running again? If so go talk to your mechanic, if he is willing to look at it have it towed there and see if it is worth fixing.

It's seized up. Mechanically when you leave a car turned off for so long certain parts of the car will seize and refuse to operate. You can get a new battery, might help. But other parts will seize as well and cause issues. What exactly, I don't know. But this is the warning I got when I stopped driving my vehicle for awhile. To start it up once a week to ensure that it doesn't seize and can run when I need it to.

Start by writing down the VIN number and looking it up so you know exactly what year car you are working with.

The battery is most likely dead - and maybe shot. You can pull it out and take it to Autozone for them to deep-charge and load test it.

If the battery isn't shot, you might be able to jump start it - but you would want to leave the jumper cables on for a while with the other vehicle running to charge your battery.

It's likely that your battery completely drained. Put a fresh battery in to start. Never hurts to have a new battery assuming, of course, that you yourself haven't changed it since taking ownership of the vehicle.

The battery is dead. If the vehicle was outside in below freezing temperature the battery is junk.
You don't need the motor running to use a code reader. The ignition just needs to be in the ON position.

There's an oval shaped blue symbol with a 4 letter word on it on the hood, and on the back of it. That's the main problem.

If it's been sitting for about a year and wasn't in a climate controlled environment it could be several things:
- Battery is kaput.
Solution: You can take the battery to most auto-parts stores. They can check it's integrity and tell you if it can be charged or not. If you have a trickle charger put it on the slow 12v charge setting over night and try it again.
- Belts are kaput.
Solution: If belts aren't used sometimes they can dry rot and loosen up too loose to turn anything. Check the integrity and tension on the belts.
- Issues with the ignition system
Solution: This is a bit more advance and there's quite a few things that could not be working; spark plugs, wires, distributor or module or coil packs (whichever it has) could be not working or malfunctioning, starter could be having issues… There's a lot to the ignition that could be stopping it. The most common issues with ignition that cause an engine not to start is either bad fuel, it's not getting fuel, or it's not producing spark.
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Check the spark plugs
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Pull a wire, remove the plug, put the plug back in the wire, touch the metal threaded part of the plug to something else metal and have someone tap (only tap! You might get a shock) the key trying to start it. Spark or no spark? No spark… Either the plugs or the wires are kaput.
Solution: Give it a tune up. Replace all wires, the spark delivery system (plugs, distributor cap/module or coil packs whichever it has).
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Change the fuel
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Drain the gas tank however you can. You can make a syphon out of a piece of a garden hose. The proper way to start a syphon process is to blow in it then drop the end outside the tank lower than the end inside the tank. If you have an air compressor you can use that air supply to blast short bursts of air in until it starts working on it's own instead of risking a taste of gasoline. They also make syphons and have them at stores.
Syphon any old gas out, put a gallon or 2 in.

-Fuel Pump-
While it's trying to be started if you get under it at the gas tank you should hear a buzzing noise. Sometimes banging on the gas tank if you don't hear the pump running causes it to run. Buzzing noise = pump is ok. No buzzing noise = pump is probably not working.
There's also a fuel filter somewhere in the line that since it's been sitting the filter might be clogged. Replace the fuel filter.

-Check the coolant level-
If it doesn't have coolant that might be stopping it from starting.

Those are some things you can check out.

Good luck with your F-word!
I refuse to work on F's. When they come to the shop I walk away shaking my head. I'm not a fan of vehicles with a swear word logo on them.

Thanks everyone. I'm gonna start by getting the battery checked tomorrow and hope it's just as simple as that. The car isn't worth putting a but load of money into but I need a car and this is my only option right now