Car won't start After Starter...
10-02-2009, 11:43 PM
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Car won't start After Starter...
'99 oldsmobile
car won't start ...took out the starter after tests, autozone confirms it's a bad starter.
Got a new starter, Tested fine, installation fine. In the car fine and everything tests out.
No codes are thrown. the Ignition switch is fine. Wires are all fine, the ground cable is fine. The battery reads good, all the cables are reading good too. The car is in park, tried in neutral too.
The coil packs are working, as when i touch the two bolts together (small and large and bypass solenoid)...the car turns over, runs for 1 - 2 seconds then it dies.
the car has enough gas and is level when i do this.
The car started fine b/4 starter went bad.
Checked all the wires around the starter, nothing appears to be burnt, pinched or messed up.
I ran a scan and no codes were thrown.
Tried jumping it for the hell of it again nothing. Fuel rail is in place and all.
the security light isn't blinking. The fuses ALL check out okay.
The ignition relay clicks and is in working order. The solenoid is good.
When we try and turn the key, The dumb lights turn off while it's trying to turn over, but nothing happens, no turn over, nothing.
the only time i get it to start for 1-2 seconds is when i get under the car and jump the two bolts while someone is cranking w/ key.
Fuel pressure is existent and appears okay and the pump is priming just fine.
Any suggestions other than Insurance fraud?? (j/k)
car won't start ...took out the starter after tests, autozone confirms it's a bad starter.
Got a new starter, Tested fine, installation fine. In the car fine and everything tests out.
No codes are thrown. the Ignition switch is fine. Wires are all fine, the ground cable is fine. The battery reads good, all the cables are reading good too. The car is in park, tried in neutral too.
The coil packs are working, as when i touch the two bolts together (small and large and bypass solenoid)...the car turns over, runs for 1 - 2 seconds then it dies.
the car has enough gas and is level when i do this.
The car started fine b/4 starter went bad.
Checked all the wires around the starter, nothing appears to be burnt, pinched or messed up.
I ran a scan and no codes were thrown.
Tried jumping it for the hell of it again nothing. Fuel rail is in place and all.
the security light isn't blinking. The fuses ALL check out okay.
The ignition relay clicks and is in working order. The solenoid is good.
When we try and turn the key, The dumb lights turn off while it's trying to turn over, but nothing happens, no turn over, nothing.
the only time i get it to start for 1-2 seconds is when i get under the car and jump the two bolts while someone is cranking w/ key.
Fuel pressure is existent and appears okay and the pump is priming just fine.
Any suggestions other than Insurance fraud?? (j/k)
10-03-2009, 10:14 AM
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Re: Car won't start After Starter...
99 olds... thats ur first problem! lol 
can you jump start it? if so, i think that would eliminate possibilities like ignition and would prolly zero in on it being a ground issue. if all the lights go out it means you prolly have zero battery and something is draining it.
can you jump start it? if so, i think that would eliminate possibilities like ignition and would prolly zero in on it being a ground issue. if all the lights go out it means you prolly have zero battery and something is draining it.
10-03-2009, 12:37 PM
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Re: Car won't start After Starter...
10-03-2009, 12:52 PM
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Re: Car won't start After Starter...
To add a little more detail to my earlier post, I had the same problem when I changed the clutch on my civic, and when I went to put the transmission and starter back on, it wouldnt start or crank but had full power inside the car. I missed re-attaching the transmission ground, which was a wire that went to the frame to the the transmission. Also it had a a lot of corrosion on so I sanded it down while I was at it. So the battery ground may be ok but make sure there isn't a transmission ground or other grounds on the car.
It sounds like the starter is good if you can jump it and make it start. Also it may be whatever relay, switch, or fuse that passes power between those two bolts you had to jump.
Goodluck!
It sounds like the starter is good if you can jump it and make it start. Also it may be whatever relay, switch, or fuse that passes power between those two bolts you had to jump.
Goodluck!
Last edited by Colt45; 10-03-2009 at 01:02 PM.
10-03-2009, 04:02 PM
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Re: Car won't start After Starter...
Ok, so the engine won't crank. It isn't an ignition module problem, because that wouldn't interfere with cranking. You can physically remove the ignition module from the car and it would still crank. You can physically remove the ECU and it will still crank.
The fact that it isn't running for very long when you manually jumper the start solenoid may be completely unrelated to the cranking failure.
So here's what you need to check. Get under the car or wherever the starter solenoid is, and see if you're getting a control voltage to it when you're trying to start. The fact that you can bypass the solenoid terminals and get the engine to crank tells me that you're getting power to the solenoid but that the solenoid isn't getting turned on (or doesn't work). Depending on how your old starter failed, you may have damaged wiring or a blown fuse somewhere, which is why you need to check (with a multimeter!) whether you have voltage at the solenoid coil.
So you've checked the battery voltage, and I'm assuming that you measured it at the battery. You can completely remove the ground cable and you'd still read the same thing, because the battery is self-contained. You need to check the voltage between the positive battery terminal and the engine block (touch the bare block casting or something like that) so you can see if there is a ground cable corrosion problem. I'm guessing that the block ground is fine, (or worst case only partially bad) because if it wasn't then the engine wouldn't crank when you jumpered the starter solenoid.
However, if you have a ground problem somewhere else, such as the ECU, ignition stuff, etc., that could explain why you're not getting power to the starter solenoid coil. Many/most cars have a normal-sized relay that switches power to the bigass starter solenoid coil, so that smaller relay (or whatever controls it) may have a power or ground problem.
Concentrate on getting the cranking fixed, and then worry about why it's only running for a few seconds. Grab a multimeter and a service manual and see what you can find.
The fact that it isn't running for very long when you manually jumper the start solenoid may be completely unrelated to the cranking failure.
So here's what you need to check. Get under the car or wherever the starter solenoid is, and see if you're getting a control voltage to it when you're trying to start. The fact that you can bypass the solenoid terminals and get the engine to crank tells me that you're getting power to the solenoid but that the solenoid isn't getting turned on (or doesn't work). Depending on how your old starter failed, you may have damaged wiring or a blown fuse somewhere, which is why you need to check (with a multimeter!) whether you have voltage at the solenoid coil.
So you've checked the battery voltage, and I'm assuming that you measured it at the battery. You can completely remove the ground cable and you'd still read the same thing, because the battery is self-contained. You need to check the voltage between the positive battery terminal and the engine block (touch the bare block casting or something like that) so you can see if there is a ground cable corrosion problem. I'm guessing that the block ground is fine, (or worst case only partially bad) because if it wasn't then the engine wouldn't crank when you jumpered the starter solenoid.
However, if you have a ground problem somewhere else, such as the ECU, ignition stuff, etc., that could explain why you're not getting power to the starter solenoid coil. Many/most cars have a normal-sized relay that switches power to the bigass starter solenoid coil, so that smaller relay (or whatever controls it) may have a power or ground problem.
Concentrate on getting the cranking fixed, and then worry about why it's only running for a few seconds. Grab a multimeter and a service manual and see what you can find.
Last edited by Fabrik8; 10-03-2009 at 04:07 PM.
10-04-2009, 11:09 PM
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Re: Car won't start After Starter...
Ok, so the engine won't crank. It isn't an ignition module problem, because that wouldn't interfere with cranking. You can physically remove the ignition module from the car and it would still crank. You can physically remove the ECU and it will still crank.
The fact that it isn't running for very long when you manually jumper the start solenoid may be completely unrelated to the cranking failure.
So here's what you need to check. Get under the car or wherever the starter solenoid is, and see if you're getting a control voltage to it when you're trying to start. The fact that you can bypass the solenoid terminals and get the engine to crank tells me that you're getting power to the solenoid but that the solenoid isn't getting turned on (or doesn't work). Depending on how your old starter failed, you may have damaged wiring or a blown fuse somewhere, which is why you need to check (with a multimeter!) whether you have voltage at the solenoid coil.
So you've checked the battery voltage, and I'm assuming that you measured it at the battery. You can completely remove the ground cable and you'd still read the same thing, because the battery is self-contained. You need to check the voltage between the positive battery terminal and the engine block (touch the bare block casting or something like that) so you can see if there is a ground cable corrosion problem. I'm guessing that the block ground is fine, (or worst case only partially bad) because if it wasn't then the engine wouldn't crank when you jumpered the starter solenoid.
However, if you have a ground problem somewhere else, such as the ECU, ignition stuff, etc., that could explain why you're not getting power to the starter solenoid coil. Many/most cars have a normal-sized relay that switches power to the bigass starter solenoid coil, so that smaller relay (or whatever controls it) may have a power or ground problem.
Concentrate on getting the cranking fixed, and then worry about why it's only running for a few seconds. Grab a multimeter and a service manual and see what you can find.
The fact that it isn't running for very long when you manually jumper the start solenoid may be completely unrelated to the cranking failure.
So here's what you need to check. Get under the car or wherever the starter solenoid is, and see if you're getting a control voltage to it when you're trying to start. The fact that you can bypass the solenoid terminals and get the engine to crank tells me that you're getting power to the solenoid but that the solenoid isn't getting turned on (or doesn't work). Depending on how your old starter failed, you may have damaged wiring or a blown fuse somewhere, which is why you need to check (with a multimeter!) whether you have voltage at the solenoid coil.
So you've checked the battery voltage, and I'm assuming that you measured it at the battery. You can completely remove the ground cable and you'd still read the same thing, because the battery is self-contained. You need to check the voltage between the positive battery terminal and the engine block (touch the bare block casting or something like that) so you can see if there is a ground cable corrosion problem. I'm guessing that the block ground is fine, (or worst case only partially bad) because if it wasn't then the engine wouldn't crank when you jumpered the starter solenoid.
However, if you have a ground problem somewhere else, such as the ECU, ignition stuff, etc., that could explain why you're not getting power to the starter solenoid coil. Many/most cars have a normal-sized relay that switches power to the bigass starter solenoid coil, so that smaller relay (or whatever controls it) may have a power or ground problem.
Concentrate on getting the cranking fixed, and then worry about why it's only running for a few seconds. Grab a multimeter and a service manual and see what you can find.
0.00 before crank, during cranking process, 12.XX - but No only starts for a second then dies.
I'm checking all the fuses in the entire car...
update. fuses checked, passenger fuse box and under hood fuse box every fuse reads okay.
no blown fuses.
i'm now checking ground.
update...ground is not corroded, good ground wiring everywhere.
grounded starter to batter - same problem though (used jumper cable as ground cable)
...looking at all wires next for damage or burns...
will update.
Fab if you have more info
shoot it my way 
<3 Jamie