Hi,

I am writing out of desperation, so hope someone can help me.

I have a 1998 micra auto 1.3 petrol. It has only done 28000 miles since new. It has had a problem for quite a while which, I don't think has anything to do with the problem, but letting you know in case is has.

About 12 months ago, there started to be a niggling sound coming from the gearbox, (at least I thought it was from the gearbox), that when driving very slow, i.e. looking for a parking space, the car would make a gear-cogging sound, as though 2 gears were not quite meshed properly; This would happen when driving slow and the accelerator was released. Took it to a specialist auto garage who were less than useless, but whilst on the ramp, I now know the sound comes from just inside where the left drive shaft i.e. passenger side, exits the gearbox. Anyway, their answer was to pay £140 to have the transmission oil changed "to see if there is any metal in the oil" and offered not a hint as to what might be wrong with it. Needless to say I did not have the oil changed, but did buy some and topped it up, as it was very slightly low.

Lately, it has got a bit louder, but a new problem has arisen; When the car has been driven for a while, say on the motorway, and then driven on a normal road and parked, at the time of slowing down before parking, (this seems to happen when the foot brake is applied), the car makes a very loud slipping screech sound and the car lunges forward, as though the wrong gear had been selected, and slows down. This is intermittent though unlike the other problem, but has been happening more often lately.

Anyway, the car will not now start after another problem which I though I had fixed until today that is when I tried it. This is what happened before today :-

Saturday night:-

Was parked in an industrial estate ready to go home, when I turned the key and nothing but a click !

Thought it mustn't be in park properly but it was. Didn't know what to do so looked under the bonnet, and noticed rather a lot of white deposits in both battery terminals/posts , so proceeded to wipe it off. When I did this, the negative terminal moved and was easily lifted off. The treminal had no more tightening in it, so I tried to make the ring oval to perhaps make it a bit tighter; I realised then, that it had a 2 cracks right through it, so the white stuff must have corroded it. I wiped the white stuff off and tried again and this time the engine turned but the engine seemed to make a ticking sound. I found what I could and an elastic band was all I could find, and wrapped around many times very tightly. On the second attempt it worked and I drove home gingerly avoiding the motorway. I would have waited for the AA but they were useless and said I would be waiting 3-4 hours. I was cold and wet and there were no street lights there, so chose this option.

Anyhow, thinking this was the problem, I went to halfords the next day and got one of those screw on type battery clamps, cut off the old one and stripped the cable and fitted it, then put "no corrode" over the post before fitting and on the terminal as well. The car started first time, so I thought it was fixed; Got up today and it will not start ???????????????

When I try, it turns over no problem, but it just makes a sound as though it is about to start, but never makes it to starting. I have tried one of those boosters over the battery and this make no difference.

I have tried it several time now without success. Any ideas ?

I did blow the white stuff around a bit when I cleaned it off the battery with a wire brush (cleaned both + & - terminals), and was wondering if this could have blown on something, and if so, would it short anything out ?.

Is there any way it could be the NATS security ? If it is trying to start, does this mean there is a slight spark ?

The lights on the dash all light up before trying the ignition, and the airbag one does go out, but how do I know which of the others should go out (if any) whilst cranking the engine and obviously before it starts ?

I am desperate to find the problem, because the thought of getting ripped of by some garage makes me feel sick.

When cars were simpler, I used to fix my own, but now they are often electronic problems and the type not easily fixed without diagnostic equipment (the perfect way to extract money from the customer).

I am not in any way saying all are like this but personal experience makes me very untrusting, if I cannot confirm for myself what they are saying is wrong.

I had thought of getting one of those code readers that reads the light flashes; Would they help in this situation, and has anyone used one / can recommend one ?

Sorry for the long posting, but thought you would need all the info possible to help me.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you in advance.