burnout88

Hey guys, my car has developed a wierd random no start. The starter, battery, and battery cables are all brand new. Ignition lock and key is 6 months old and the ignition switch is probably about 3 years old. Every now and then when I go to start it and I turn the key forward and I get nothing. No crank or click just nothing. I then try it a few times and it will just start. It's driving me crazy!!

I am looking for ideas on what to check next. I am stumped and I am hard to stump.

Thanks
Brian

libolt

I have been dealing with a similar situation for a couple of years now. I just replaced my starter and it made no difference. I get a click when trying to start. I usually try a few more times and it fires up. It will then run normally the rest of the day. It seems to happen more often when the car has been sitting a while.

BigWhiteGTP

Im sure you've already double checked all the grounds and stuff like that. Maybe one of the posts is loose on the starter? Or the starter itself may just be a bad unit. Do the gauges and lights come on like normal when it happens?

MTXaudioSYSTM

i just replaced my starter again. only 3 months old. warranty FTW

sounds like battery terminals. hopefully thats it. 3$ fix

mdurbala

iTrader: (1)

yep ive got that one too, or when it rains and its all moist outside and the cars been sitting all day, hop in turn key on, everthing turns on and wont even get a click. Replaced distributor a while back helped for like 5 months then started again just glad its not the daily anymore....

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

I don't wanna start the famous wild goose chase but I had the same issue til I got pissed off and bypassed the VATS with 20 cents worth of resistors, my car used to just not start or click after a few stops and shutting it off, if you're not hearing a crank or even a click it could be having trouble reading your resistor pellot.. but again goose chase lol its a start tho, diagnose it system by system and weed out the problems

CraZ-28

Yeah, thats a tough one. It could be any number of things.....even the infamouse VATS problem, blah! I would check to make sure that all your connections on the steering column are firmly connected and also check to make sure none of them are corroded, funky, anything like that. Maybe a good cleaning of all the terminals on the blocks might be in order. Also, when you turn the key on....do you get accesory power? I would also check the grounds, as mentioned before but also check to make sure your leads going to the starter are good. Basically make sure your wires are not frayed, burnt through, etc.

Good luck and let us know the outcome....

burnout88

My car is an 88 and I do not have a VATS system. VATS started in 89 so that is at least one less system to deal with. Also, I DO have acc power when the car will not start. Thats what's really weird about it. I turn the key forward to start and everything in the car works (dash lights, radio, etc.) but get nothing on the start, not even a click.

I have been reviewing my service manual and studying the circuits involved in the starting process. Here's what I have come up with to find my gremlin.

The lock cylinder is connected to a small rod in the column that then connects to the ignition switch. When you turn the key the rod moves the ignition switch to open and then sends power to the park/neutral switch at the shifter. If the shifter is in park or neutral that switch then lets the power move on to the starter solenoid which then the car starts.

So what I am dealing with is 1 rod in the column, 2 switchs and a solenoid. Since the problem is random and I cannot check for power at three to four points at the same time I am going to have wire up 4 digital meters at various points in the starting circuit so I can see where the break in power is occuring when the random no start strikes.

Meter 1 - connected to yellow wire right out of the igntion switch
Meter 2 - connected to yellow going into the park/neutral switch
Meter 3 - connected to purple wire coming out the park/neutral switch
Meter 4 - connected to purple wire at the solenoid end.

I am going to have 4 meters sitting on my dash at the same time and should see 12 volts on all 4 with a good start and hopefully one will show no power on a bad start.

I will keep every one posted on how it goes!

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

ive had that issue before, i did a ghetto test tho and just jammed a screwdriver into the slot where the rod goes and pushed it forward, my rod wasnt moving forward enough for the fried switch so i just replaced it with an extra i had lying around but the test youre running would be better than mine, it was either a go or a no go for me i didnt have a meter handy tho

prOject-IrOc

Do it often when it's hot out?
Check your neutral safety switch.

A good way to see if it's just shorting out (like mine did for 3 years before I figured out what it was), is to get in the car and try to start it while wiggling the shifter (while keeping it in park). If you would push mine over to the right just a bit while turning the key, it would fire up every time.

It's a plug under the shifter plastic, pretty simple and cheap to change out. Mine had all kinds of gunk in it.

Good luck.

burnout88

UPDATE!! I figured it out! So I have a B&M Mega shifter in my car and it turns out the Park/Neutral switch on the shifter was bad. The P/N switch had just worn out over time and was making intermittent contact. Ordered a new P/N switch from B&M and installed it and it starts ever time now.

That only took four months to track down. Damn Thirdgens!! But it is nice to finally have my Camaro back in working order

BluFBdy

iTrader: (1)

Correction sir ; damn B&M lol