Loogie - Good point. Alarm and anti theft systems are a Huge problem when they break.
Sometimes a reset with fresh batteries will fix it.
Sometimes a reset with fresh batteries will fix it.
no start troubleshooting
- Thread starter Cutehumor
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Had it happened to me once on the Saturn around 40k miles. Had the car jump started and it started. It didn't happen again for a few more years.
Then right at the 100k mark, it happens again and started happening almost everyday. I replaced the starter and it has yet to happen again.
Then right at the 100k mark, it happens again and started happening almost everyday. I replaced the starter and it has yet to happen again.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Had it happened to me once on the Saturn around 40k miles. Had the car jump started and it started. It didn't happen again for a few more years.
Then right at the 100k mark, it happens again and started happening almost everyday. I replaced the starter and it has yet to happen again.
interesting. how many miles do you have on your saturn now? it's been almost five days with no problems with about 15 consecutive starts. When it happened at lunch on Monday, I only drove one mile from my office to lunch. I have a one year warranty from GM on this new reman starter. It's been 6 months since I bought it.
Had it happened to me once on the Saturn around 40k miles. Had the car jump started and it started. It didn't happen again for a few more years.
Then right at the 100k mark, it happens again and started happening almost everyday. I replaced the starter and it has yet to happen again.
interesting. how many miles do you have on your saturn now? it's been almost five days with no problems with about 15 consecutive starts. When it happened at lunch on Monday, I only drove one mile from my office to lunch. I have a one year warranty from GM on this new reman starter. It's been 6 months since I bought it.
During the no start, is anything happening at all? Are the dash lights coming on? Starter solenoid clicking? When it finally starts cranking, how long until it actually ignites?
nope. nothing is happening at all. the starter isn't turning over, the dash lights turn off when the ignition is turned to the "start" position. there's no clicking. When it starts cranking, it fires right up probably less than three seconds. I'll have more time to devote to this on friday. I work mon-fri 8am-5pm. When I leave for work and when I get off from work, it's pitch black dark outside. Friday I'm off to attend my wife's nursing graduation, but it doesn't start until 4pm. so I have all day to look things over. I'm going to unscrew every starter wire and check all the connections. This morning, started up fine. I would lean to take it to a shop, but of course, since this is an intermittent problem. I would be charged $100 and they probably couldn't find anything wrong.
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Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
interesting. how many miles do you have on your saturn now? it's been almost five days with no problems with about 15 consecutive starts. When it happened at lunch on Monday, I only drove one mile from my office to lunch. I have a one year warranty from GM on this new reman starter. It's been 6 months since I bought it.
It has 120k on it now. The symptoms were identical to yours. You'd turn the key, the dash lights would go off, but nothing would happen. I could probably hear the solenoid move once, but that was it. For some reason, you could only reproduce it when the engine was hot, or if the car had been sitting under the hot sun all day.
interesting. how many miles do you have on your saturn now? it's been almost five days with no problems with about 15 consecutive starts. When it happened at lunch on Monday, I only drove one mile from my office to lunch. I have a one year warranty from GM on this new reman starter. It's been 6 months since I bought it.
It has 120k on it now. The symptoms were identical to yours. You'd turn the key, the dash lights would go off, but nothing would happen. I could probably hear the solenoid move once, but that was it. For some reason, you could only reproduce it when the engine was hot, or if the car had been sitting under the hot sun all day.
I'm almost 99% sure your problem is the battery terminal. The rubber swells around the metal preventing a good connection. Get some metal washers to fit between the terminal and post. You should be good to go afterwards. I've done this same procedure on about five or six mid 90's GM's. BTW, it's usually the red rubber around the positive that starts swelling first.
If you were going to replace anything, it should be the cables themselves. The bolt shouldn't be at fault here. I still have the original cables and bolts on my 96, I just had to put two thin washers between the cable and the bolt. Or you could try to trim the rubber off of the cables, but the washers would probably be easier to work with. I had a couple laying around the house, but you should be able to get one for around a dime or so at most hardware stores. Just make sure overall width is no wider than the head of the cable and the interior hole is wide enough to fit around the bolt. You're looking for something slightly larger than a quarter with about a 1/2 inch hole in the middle.
Are the dash lights supposed to go out during ignition? Doesn't sound right to me. Sounds like the ignition switch is going bad, intermittent failure to close circuit at ignition position.
here's my negative side terminal bolt that I replaced with a new one. I didn't replace the positive, as it was a PITA to remove the bolt from the Red rubber cover. I sprayed some anti corrosion stuff on the negative and positive cable. not sure if it will help, and there's some rust on the metal ring of the negative cable. maybe PB Blaster?
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I have seen this many times. You would do much better by replacing the positive battery terminal bolt too. PB Blaster won't help. Napa battery terminal spray or Vaseline on the terminals and battery cable ends will help prevent this corrosion.
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