Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I drive a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am GT1 with 105,000 miles. I have an intermittent starting problem, but luckily it has not left me stranded yet. Usually happens after I have driven the car for 10 - 15 minutes, then let it set for 1/2 hour. When I turn the key to start it, the car does not turn over. There are no flashing lights in my dash. When I do try to start it, I hear something lightly in the background that sounds like it is trying to turn. So within 5 minutes, after trying to start it 4 - 5 times, it finally will start and runs fine.
I have taken it to the dealership twice, but my service writer will not replace the starter because he can not find anything wrong with it. There are no codes
and they can not reproduce the problem.
If it is the starter, I am looking at 300 - 500 to have it fixed at the dealer.
The sound you hear lightly in the background I am going to guess is the electric fuel pump spinning-up fuel pressure....that would be normal.
I would first suspect the battery terminals aren't making a good contact....loosen and then wire brush all the area that makes contact, then re-tighten them. Next, loosen and wire brush the heavy wire and it's terminal going into the starter itself.
Most towns have a shop that specializes in rebuilding alternators and starters. If it is the starter or the solenoid (GMs have the solenoid built in) then they can remove, rebuild, and reinstall it cheaper than the dealership.
There is also a switch which prevents you from starting the car in gear which sometimes goes bad. Just as a test, whenever this happens, try moving the gear selector to Neutral and turning the key...or kind of slam the selector from Park to Low and back to Park hard and see if that helps. If that allows it to start, then the switch needs replaced or adjusted (sometimes with time the cable stretches and doesn't fully "click" the switch).
I drive a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am GT1 with 105,000 miles. I have an intermittent starting problem, but luckily it has not left me stranded yet. Usually happens after I have driven the car for 10 - 15 minutes, then let it set for 1/2 hour. When I turn the key to start it, the car does not turn over. There are no flashing lights in my dash. When I do try to start it, I hear something lightly in the background that sounds like it is trying to turn. So within 5 minutes, after trying to start it 4 - 5 times, it finally will start and runs fine.
I have taken it to the dealership twice, but my service writer will not replace the starter because he can not find anything wrong with it. There are no codes
and they can not reproduce the problem.
If it is the starter, I am looking at 300 - 500 to have it fixed at the dealer.
Does it sound like the starter?
Your dealer would be letting you off cheap. They usually charge at least ten times what an independent garage would charge.
If the dash lights don't even flash, it could be something as simple as broken-down wiring from the battery posts. I had something very similar happen with a '84 Ford LTD wagon.
Make sure you have clean and tight battery connections. You might have to change the connector hardware that tightens down on the battery posts.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. This is the first time I have driven a car past 100,000 miles, so I am trying to keep it going instead of buying a "very expensive" new car.
Don't buy a starter, not if your dash lights do not come on when the key is turned on.
Worked at GM dealer for several years. Have you ever had the battery replaced? If so was it a GM replacement battery? From a dealer? If not replaced and original battery. If yes, it was replaced by the dealer with a Delco battery, then read on. GM had some horrible side post batteries.They would leak acid and corrode the terminals. Have heard your complaint 100's of times and when the car was pulled into the shop the first thing I would do is give the positive terminal and negative terminal cables a good tug. I cannot tell you how many times I have had the battery terminal/cable pop right off the battery with little to no effort. If you have no dash lights, no starter clicking DO NOT spend the money on a starter. This sounds like a ground issue and would check my cables/terminals at the battery first. These vehicles today are loaded with grounds and can cause mayhem if they are dirty, loose. If it is one of you cables some may say, "just replace the battery" which you will have to do but they will need to check out your battery cables as well. Some on the Cadillacs would be heavily corroded and have high resistance and need to be replaced.
If you don't have the capability of doing these repairs or a spare car don't tug on the cables because I don't want you to have to spring for a tow bill to the repair place. Once that battery slug pops out it's out and it's not like humpty dumpty. If you look at the terminals you might see lot's of white crusty stuff built up around it, seems like it was the positive side that usually did it but it's been several years since I've worked on them so best to check both. I had one that looked just fine, no crusty build up, nothing, same complaint as yours though. I put an 8mm wrench on the battery terminal and went to loosen the bolt and the terminal, slug and cable all came off with the wrench still on the bolt. I just barely put pressure on it and it fell off. This is why folks would say it starts, don't start, no dash lights. Maybe when you slam the door shut it jars it enough to break contact. This problem will not set codes and I can't believe a GM dealer didn't have some old guy like me around that knew about this stuff. I think around 2004 or 2005(not 100% sure, slept since then) GM came out with a bulletin that said they had finally fixed the leaking side post battery issues. Then it seems like most of their stuff went to top post batteries like Ford and Dodge have done trouble free for decades.
If your battery is good, terminals are clean you need to check other grounds, they have grounds on the engine block that get loose, dirty and corroded. I have had a few like this but minor in compared to the problem with the battery terminals.
You can clean your battery terminals with a mixture of baking soda and water, mix to a thick paste and apply with an old toothbrush. Every tech I worked with had an old toothbrush in his toolbox, probably the cheapest thing in there!!
Excellent post about the side post batteries and corrosion.
I replaced both clamps on my Cherokee a while back, and then started having an intermittent "no power" issue. Sure enough, it was a loose positive clamp (loose where the pos. wires are clamped to the clamp).
Little things like that can cause major electrical failures, but require easy/cheap repairs.
I agree with the "old guy", here. I learned how to wrench and machine parts from some older guys, and their experience was worth its weight in gold. Simple troubleshooting and problem solving skills are being lost in this country.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
