Just hopped in the car a few minutes ago to go and grab something to eat and the car didn’t start. When I first turned the key it sounded like it was trying to start up but was sounding slow. I didn’t want to keep the key turned like that so I let it go and tried again and the second time it makes a rapid clicking sound almost when held and the engine didn’t sound like it was turning at all.
I will mention that the car is from Florida and recently my fiance and I moved to Utah where for the past week it’s been consistently in the 30’s during the day and upper to mid 20s at night. So I don’t know if the cold could be affecting anything. There was a few days when I was heading to work in the morning and it was about 23 degrees out and it didn’t have an issue then. Today would be the first time that I noticed anything odd with starting it.
Those are the usual symptoms of a battery that’s weak and/or discharged. The clicking is the starter solenoid unable to keep the starter engaged, due to the starter motor’s high demand for battery current.
Note that a discharged battery will suffer internal damage if it’s left in sub-freezing temperatures. If it’s got any hope at all, at this point, consider disconnecting it and letting it spend the night somewhere above 32 ^o F.
Check if there’s an auto parts store in your local area, that offers free battery testing/charging services.