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And now, of course, something new has started. Let me insert here that I HATE this car, but it is paid off. About a week ago I went to my car to drive home from work. I hit the button on the keyless entry- nothing. Unlock the car manually, try to start. All the dash lights come on. Try to trun the car over-nothing. No clicking, no attempt to crank, nothing. The security light DID NOT stay on or flash as it usually does with a passlock problem. Turn it off, turn it back on-nothing. After doing this a few times, the car finally starts. I drive home.
No more problems for a few days. We thought it was possibly the battery going out. Two days ago I pack the baby up, finally make it to the car, try to start- nothing. Again all lights come on, security light does not flash or stay on, but the car will not even click like its trying to turn over. No amount of turning it off and on will make the stupid car start. Now I am pissed. Any of you with children understand what a fiasco it is just to make it out the door on time with a 3 month old infant!
The hubby comes home, takes the battery out and has it tested. Battery is good. Hubby thinks it may be the ignition switch. We had it towed to the shop this morning so they could take a look. The mechanic hooks the car up to the diagnostic thingy (forgive me I'm female and have no clue what it's called), but cannot even get a read. Its almost like the car has locked us out?
Help!!!! We do not have the money to start replacing random parts in the hopes that it miraculously works...
Your symptoms do sound a lot like failing ignition switch to me, or possibly a poor connection at some major harness point.
My 04 GT just turned 116K and has never been in the shop for any repair. The 99 I had was at 120K when some idiot dialing their cellphone plowed into the back of me at around 45mph. It had been in the shop once for a mechanical repair (intake manifold gasket). I can't complain, based on other cars owned (foreign and domestic) they have been pretty good.
Car has been running well. Parked it and came out the next morning and engine would crank over, but would not start. Have determined that engine is lacking spark and fuel. Upon key on, i hear the fuel pump run, along with everything else powering up ok. All fuses ok, including the pcm and ign fuse. Have replaced the coil pack along with the ignition module and crank sensor, but with no change. Ignition module getting the 12 volts at the 2 pin conn. on left side. Crank sensor ohmed out at 901 and with engine cranking was getting 1.1 volts. All grounds look good. Unplugged map sensor, no change.
Wondering what to look at next?? Also, if anyone has a link to the ignition wiring diagram, that would help out a ton. Thanks!!!
If the starter engine does "crank" then the Passlock system might have locked in, thus preventing the engine from starting properly
Please Help! I am at my wits end with this car!
Anyway, I thought I'd be proactive and take it into a shop because I didn't want the problem getting worse, even though I could consistently get it running every time. The mechanic, after about a month of trial and error, deduced it was the fuel pump and replaced that. Yay. That was a $700 journey.
But ever since he got it into his shop the first time (he kept giving it back to me and saying it was fixed only to have it break again), it started having electrical issues. We took it in with a minor problem besides the reverse problem -- that the left blinker had started blinking twice as fast as normal/as the right blinker -- and he seems to have fixed that. But then the battery would be drained every time I came to pick it up (two times in a row), at which point I replaced the battery, even though it was pretty new. The new battery then had issues and the car still wouldn't start.
After more inspection by the mechanic, he gave it back to us, the car started, I drove down the road and had the car start dying on the road (lights shutting off, power steering freezing up). So, I took it back. I think that's when he did some more work on the fuel pump. Or replaced a different part of it.
Anyway, I got the car back again, made it all the way home, drove three more days with it, and then came down to my garage to find the battery drained. Again. It won't even pretend to start up when you turn the key. No reaction. It's not the battery. Could it be the alternator? Bad wiring? Something else? The blinker apparently had corroded wiring, is why that was broken. Is that indicative of probably other bad wiring in the car?
Sorry this mesage is so long, I figured more details were better than less.
I'm taking it to a different mechanic this weekend, assuming I can get it there without it dying again, but ideas of what he should be looking for, etc. would be wonderful.
Thanks!
Your first problem sounds like a simple cold start enrichment issue to me, but it could be something else. Since it seemed to improve after it warmed up though that's where I would start. I'd like to know how it was determined that the fuel pump was bad from these symptoms though.
The blinking fast problem is almost always due to a burned out bulb or bad connection (usually at the socket) on the circuit and I don't see anything here to conclude it was anything else.
As far as the battery issue I suspect one of two possibilities - the alternator isn't charging the battery, or there's a drain on the battery when the ignition is off. The first could be caused by the alternator itself but I've seen bad tensioner pulleys for the serpentine belt cause this also, especially on the 4 cyl. Pontiacs of that era. The second could as simple as an interior, trunk, underhood light that isn't going off, or as bad as some subsystem staying on when it's supposed to be off.
My car started doing this whole stalling thing sometime last summer. I had a new fuel filter put in, and the problem stopped for the most part. Just recently it started back up, and is having no mercy on me. When it initially began happening, it was only at low speeds and I was always fortunately on back roads. This past week it started happening on the highway a couple of times.
I can't continue to drive this thing around because I'm putting myself and others in danger. Got it towed the other day and like others have said, it of course started right up when we got there. They couldn't find any problems with it, said the fuel pressure was fine, etc., etc. If it's an easy fix such as the wiring, I'd love to be able to do something myself. If it's going to cost me a good amount of money, I've had this thing for 10 years and it's time to say Sayonara.
It doesn't seem like there is a clear cut answer to the problem, and many have spent money on fixing parts to no avail. There has really been no consistency to when it happens (i.e., what speed I'm going) the only thing I am thinking that might make a difference is it seems to happen more when the gas is low (below 1/4 tank). The other crazy thing is that when it does stall out and doesn't want to start back up, if I shake the car it magically turns on. So before I get rid of my baby once and for all, does anyone have any answers or do you think this is a big money problem?? Thanks guys!
Jon
Any help is appreciated!
These symptoms could have a lot of causes. We may have to wait until you have a complete no-start and then check for fuel pressure, spark, injector pulse etc to figure out which one went south.
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I can't say that that is the problem, but it's probably worth reading that discussion, and perhaps posting over there too.
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