Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
Options
Comments
Ignition?
Starter?
Wiring?
The front driver's side wheel is also hesitating whenever i hit the brake.
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Rodney
Has the fuel filter ever been changed? If not, it would be a good place to start.
Next, you will need to know what the fuel pressure is. The fuel pressure should be 47-54 psi. It may also be a problem with the fuel pressure regulator. It may be leaking fuel into the intake and "flooding" it.
Pull the vacuum hose to the fuel pressure regulator and see if the inside of the hose is wet with fuel. If it is, the regulator is shot and will need replacement.
Is the fuse blown? If it is, then you have a short somewhere and need to track it down to find the problem.
Thanks a lot for your advice. In the end, you may have saved me a lot of unnecessary expenses.
All in all, should be less than $100 for the replacement, IF the regulator is bad.
Disconnecting the vacuum hose to the fuel pressure regulator and seeing if it is wet with fuel or smells of fuel, will tell you.
Thanks a lot!
I saw your post by accident. The source of the trouble could be any of the following:
- a bad or loose ground - check the starter and battery cables - I doubt this is the problem, but you should verify that it isn't and it's easy enough to do (and free).
- the source of the trouble may have nothing to do with your engine - check the specs on the ignition switch and see if you have one of Chrysler's electro-mechanical ones. The problem may be that there is build-up on the electro-mechanical contacts (metal tabs) of the ignition switch which are preventing good contact. When you insert the key into the ignition and turn it, what you're doing is allowing the tabs in the ignition switch to connect. By replacing the ignition switch, the problem might just go away. It's usually about a $15 or $20 part (much cheaper 1st line defense vs. a new starter and more likely to be the problem based on the symptom you describe). You'll probably need some weird tools like special torx drivers, etc. My guess is that the 10 second delay is kind of random - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, right? Anyway, if you can get under the steering column, have the right tools, and the part, you can do this repair yourself easily enough. If it doesn't fix it, then keep looking - no guarantees, obviously.
This is not the original motor. We replaced that 2 years ago,with one from an 87 firebird.
Can it be the coil? We pulled off the distributor cap and checked that.Spark plug wires good. Help?
It cranked up yesterday just fine, drove it and parked. When I came out the next afternoon it wouldn't even crank. The battery is good because I just replaced it and the radio works so do the windows. The dash lights come on but when I turn the key and expect to hear the car crank, nothing happens.
But if you get NOTHING when turning the key see what happens when you turn the headlights on and turn the key. If the headlights remain bright you either have bad battery cables or a bad switch that works off your clutch allowing you to start the car perhaps?
But if the lights do not dim it's obvious your starter isn't even being activated.
It would also be good if you could check to see if 12V current goes to the starter solenoid from the ignition switch.
Generally, one starts at the starter and works backwards. We need to know why the starter motor is not getting a message.
Mustangpoppy
3,000 miles later, on recent Colorado mornings when air temp near freezing, cranks fine, but no start. When sun comes up, air warms up, starts fine. No problem during day. Cold mornings, no start. Warm mornings, starts fine.
Dealer charged $153 to check codes and diagnose, claimed spark plugs were bad (3,000 miles), replaced same (cost $24.88). This morning air was cold, no start.
GM Dealer refused to offer any explanation, suggestion or possible options. Ford mechanic suggested it might be some sort of cold start switch for the MFI. Any suggestions? Charlie
What weight oil are you using?
It could be that the engine is just not spinning fast enough.
GM Dealer had car for one week where it started fine every day until one freezing morning. Car was pushed inside. Later, when it was warm, it started fine. Mechanic reported his Diagnostic equipment found no faults or codes and he didn't know why it wouldn't start when cold as he couldn't duplicate the problem while it was starting fine, inside a warm garage.
When asked why fairly new (six months) plugs were replaced, the manager butted in and claimed the plugs were were "wet fouled" and "bad" and were also the "wrong plugs." The mechanic refused to say anything more.
The spark plugs were purchased at the same parts house from which the (nearby) dealer buys his parts. They were sold as the proper type for a 1996 Chev Cavalier 2.2L engine. Partsman says the dealer is full of **it. Exactly which type of plugs were replaced cannot be known now as the "wrong plugs" were NOT saved, as per Colorado consumer law.
Car was picked up in the afternoon, bill paid in full, and it started fine. The next morning, when it was near freezing, the car would not start, with starter spinning the engine normally. Later in the day, above 40 degrees, it started fine.
Call to manager: "Mechanic has refused to suggest any other alternative or possible option as he didn't want the liability."
I doubt the plugs were "bad" and I suspect there must be some thermal switch involved, but the dealer will not tell me anything more other than I will have to leave it with him until a cause can be found. More likely, until the weather warms up and early morning starting will no longer be a problem until next winter.
Second, aftermarket plugs (and wires) often cause driveability problems in GM vehicles. I've had so many problems with them over the years that the ONLY plugs I'll use when doing a tuneup on a GM are AC Delco, and even those are pretty much done if they're gas-fouled.
Yep, coolant temp sensor is a good place to look.
It would be interesting to see if your car would start with a jump start.
You may also want to drop to 5W multi oil or synthetic.
You know, your car is almost ten years old and a compression test might also be a good idea. If your compression is no good nothing is going to save you.
I was told by another mechanic that a coolant temp sensor test is to put the tip into heated oil and the internal circuit should ground when temp exceeds 230 degrees, simply to turn a dash warning light on. Doesn't seem to relate to cold temp, since the sensor is said to have an open circuit below 220 degrees. He said the sensor could be disconnected from the ECM without affecting starting or running. Is this true?
I'll try that tomorrow, when its warm, to see if it will start and run with or without the sensor. If so, I'll try to get another dealer to let me review his workshop manual for a "trouble tree" no start fault chart that might identify some sort of switch/sensor that could be affected by cold, unless someone has a better idea. Again, thanks for the effort. No wonder the dealer mechaic wouldn't offer any suggestions.
No. The coolant temp sensor is a negative coeficient thermistor whose resistance decreases as temp increases. The PCM must know engine temp at all times to determine how long to turn the injectors on for each power stroke. Also, the CTS reading must be roughly equal to air intake temp reading prior to starting the engine. I'm not guaranteeing that the temp sensor is the problem, but any competent mechanic with a scan tool can verify it in about 2 minutes by looking at datastream (the information sent to the PCM by the various sensors).
I was told by the local partsman the sensor costs $9.99 and he sells them to the GM dealer, who uses these cheaper, non-OEM parts for his used cars. Cheaper for me to replace the sensor just to see what happens than let the GM dealer charge another $117 for just hooking it up to a diagnosis machine and finding no fault codes; $153 total to replace "bad" spark plugs. Thanks again for such clear advice even I can understand.
My wife has a 1999 T&C Limited. Same problem you described with one other - the dash (occasionally) all guages went to zero. We changed the body controller. No help. changed engine controller. no help. changed the dash. All problems went away. There is a feedback loop in the dash, to the computer, to tell the computer that the engine is running. if the TACH doesn't answer the computer, the system shuts off the fuel. After 3 attempts, the alarm disables the starter.
We played this game for a year and a half, and after many useless trips to the dealer, we got on forums like this one, and figured it out by trial and error.
Sorry you had to go thru the same thing - and by the way -- Chrysler just kept telling us to take it to the dealer.
good luck!
Change the dash - Not the computer. We had temporary success pounding on the dash faceplate until the guages came back - then started the van.
marty
Should I check the ECM? I am not too sure about how to check for proper ground or shorts in the wires. I am open to ANY ideas! As I understand it, the trigger voltrage is routed to the ECM, and then to the coil?...
John S.
You have two obvious things to attend to first. We know your battery is kaput because it is leaking, so replace that. And we know your ignition lock is bad, so you'll need to get that fixed. Once those two items are working correctly, you can get to the next level. Hopefully the car will start then, and you can check the alternator output.
Jumping the starter of course doesn't activate the ignition.
John S.
good luck with it.
Thanks for your help.
John S.
Recently the battery went dead and I changed the alternater. Car was working fine again. Now it doesn't want to start. It cranks but no fire. I have spark. I'm 99% sure. I have fuel. I think it has something to do with the battery possibly. Air filters are fine. Not sure about fuel filter. Fuel pump sounds good. Starter sounds fine. I haven't checked pressure on the fuel though.
Few days ago it didn't want to start. Thought maybe I was out of gas cause my gauge is broken. Put some gas in it. Started perfectly. Now the tank is completely full, and it's doing it again. Went and tried to start last night. Nothing. Then went out there 2 hours later and it started after the second try.
Anyone have any ideas?
TIA
Something is interrupting current to the starter motor. This could be the neutral safety switch in the transmission, the brake safety switch, or the ignition switch or the starter relay.
If a mechanic was the one who suggested the battery and starter motor, based on the symptoms as you told us here, go to another repair shop, they seem really incompetent or they didn't hear you or you didn't tell them right.
If you made these decisions yourself, that's okay, you aren't hanging a sign out saying "danes car repair" and you aren't expected to know these things.