car will not start, need help

[oc192]

ok, i'll start off with a little background info. Last week, my scanmaster was seeing around 11 volts on the bat display. The volts light in the dash cluster was also not lighting up. I removed the alternator and ran it over to autozone, they tested it and said it failed. I bought a new alternator and installed it over the weekend. The car started and I took for a spin around my neighborhood but was still seeing low volts. I ordered and installed the casper's field fix harness and now the car does not start. I removed the harness and connected everything back to the way it was, still no start.


The battery still reads 12v with a volt meter, the fuse for teh ECM under the dash looks good. Interior lights all work. I unplugged the orange wire by the battery and then reconnected, still nothing. When I turn the key, the fuel pump comes on but no spark, engine does not try to turnover.


When I turn the key all the way on, several dash lights will come on and the security light will flash.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Don

 

[turb0buick57]

After the new alternator and before installing the field fix harness, you said you were driving with low volts, did you charge the battery between those 2 events?

When your attempting to start it, do the interior lights dim out? Hear a starter click but the engine doesnt spin?

If you havent charged the battery I would still try jumping it or a known good battery.

 

[oc192]

Tried it again...when I turn the key all the way over, the interior lights dim a little. There is no starter click at all. After the fuel pump primes, there is complete silence.

 

[BuickMike]

So, the starter does not even crank? No click? That's not the ECM then. Charge the battery and see what happens.

Oh! Get under the car with a hammer and hit the starter a few times. No joke. Then try and start it. You probably just have a stuck starter solenoid. I had the same thing happen when I first bought my GN. I drove around with a hammer in the car for a week before I got paid that friday and could afford a new starter. Oh, the good ol days of college.

 

[NorEaster]

Double check

Tried it again...when I turn the key all the way over, the interior lights dim a little. There is no starter click at all. After the fuel pump primes, there is complete silence.

Double check your battery connections. When I picked up my car from storage, the guy who hooked my battery up only finger tightened it. Start three times then nothing at all. Did a quick tighten and good to go.


Good luck!

 

[bosted86]

if volts bulb is burned out on the dash the battery will not charge. does the light come on when you turn the key to on? if not, replace bulb.

 

[GNDriven]

Replace/recharge the battery then check the one wire going into the alternator. The voltage from this wire starts the electromagnetic field required by the alternator to function. Disconnect the wire connector from the alternator, you should read appox 12Volts from the wire to ground. If 0V there is a break in your new wiring job.

 

[BuickMike]

If the interior lights stay on while he has the key in the start position and there is not even a click from the starter then the battery connections and volts are fine. If a connection was loose, everything would go black once he tried to start it.

I bet $1 that it's a starter solenoid. I'm sure it's only coincidental that it broke while there are alternator issues going on.

 

[TurboBuRick]

While holding the key in the start position, grab the column close to the dash and turn it all the way to the left or if this is a column shift car, push shifter up.

If that does not work, try to start in neutral.

If that doesn't work, run the shifter through the gears while holding the key. Just make sure your foot is on the brake. If the nss is out of wack it could start in gear. Be aware.

 

[BuickMike]

While holding the key in the start position, grab the column close to the dash and turn it all the way to the left or if this is a column shift car, push shifter up.

If that does not work, try to start in neutral.

If that doesn't work, run the shifter through the gears while holding the key. Just make sure your foot is on the brake. If the nss is out of wack it could start in gear. Be aware.

Good call. Also, I can't remember. Does the factory security system have a starter kill, or does it just honk the horn? Don, did this car ever have an aftermarket alarm that you are aware of?

 

[turbolou]

Reply

if volts bulb is burned out on the dash the battery will not charge. does the light come on when you turn the key to on? if not, replace bulb.

Good point but more likely the connection behind the speedo head is not making good contact especially if someone has ever disturbed that area for any reason. Try this, turn the key on to the run position & press on the speedo/dash face & see if the charge light wants to comes on. If the light doesn't work neither will the charging system. Also make sure all the dash grounds are secure.

 

[oc192]

LOL.............wtf! I put the car in nuetral and it fired right up. I ran it for a few minutes, seeing 14.2ish on the scanmaster. I turned it off and started it again this time in park and it fired up again.

So is this some quirky weirdness never to be seen again or do I have some part ready to fail on me in the near future?

 

[BuickMike]

Sounds like you just didn't have it all the way in Park. You may also have a bad neautral safety switch or possibly the starter is going out on you. It's one of the two.

 

[gidyuppp]

Had the same issue with the same suggestions and the one that worked best, when the car was dead, was to hit the started with a wrench. That fired it up right away which told me it was the starter and it was able to get me to a hoist. Mine did the same after the first beating. Started up for a few days, then dead again. New starter installed and starts fine now.