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No starter

Tiny
MIKESM
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 CHEVROLET MALIBU
  • 2.2L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 125,000 MILES
Hi Guys. Parked my car last night. Everything fine. Went to start it today. -30 below zero but had the battery maintainer on all day and block heater plugged in. Went to start it. All the gauges light up in full brightness with the full ignition key on tones. When I turn the key. I can hear a click. No crank. I swapped all the relays that have to do with the ignition. Still one click. My guess is the click is coming from around the park neutral position switch. Does it sound logical that it may have been forced out of alignment? Due to the cold? The shifter did seem very stiff the other day. Any thoughts? Thanks.
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Thursday, January 31st, 2019 AT 6:29 PM

10 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,758 POSTS
Hi and thanks for using 2CarPros.

The switch wouldn't make a click. However, the starter would. What you need to do is check to see if the starter is getting power when the key is in the start position. Follow the directions in this link. Also, the second link discusses weak battery connections which can also cause this problem.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/starter-not-working-repair

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/everything-goes-dead-when-engine-is-cranked

Let me know if this helps or if you have other questions.

Take care,
Joe
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
MIKESM
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Hi guys. Thanks for your help. Awesome site. I went out this morning and took a heat gun to the starter and gave it a couple of whacks. It started right up. I'm going to let it sit and try it again a few times before venturing out in our miserable weather. Thanks for all your help. Mike
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,758 POSTS
Happy to help, Mike. Something may have just frozen up. Not sure where you are located, but in PA, we are finally getting out of the extreme temperatures. If you are north west of us, I feel bad for you. LOL

Take care and let me know how things work out for you.

Take care,
Joe
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
MIKESM
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Started acting up again until I heated up the starter again. Then let it sit. Tried it. Nothing. Not even a click. I went to clean the starter solenoid connections. I bust off the trigger wire from the solenoid housing. Don't know if it was cracked or a piece missing from before. But at this point I guess I'm off to the local wrecking yard for a starter. Seems like the solenoid are not sold at the auto parts stores.
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,758 POSTS
Hi:
The part that broke may have already been damaged and causing the problem (only making connection at different times). Make sure the battery is disconnected when you are working on the starter.

Let me know if the replacement starter takes care of the problem.

Joe
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
MIKESM
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Hi guys. I'm back. Was going good for awhile. I guess the starter wasn't the issue after all. I went to start the car today. And nothing. Not even a click. Then I put the starter pack on it and it turned over. The battery is fully charged. I had the maintainer on last few days and longer. I noticed that while the car was idle (not running) the power went dead. Because my clock setting went back to 12. Battery ground connection? Also, wen I took it out the restarting it the start was labored. Then after the next shut down. I couldn't get it restarted. Nothing. Complete dead again. Until I put the booster pack on. However, this time the car was shaking the entire time. Reduced engine power came on the computer. Car would barely move. These are the trouble codes that came up. Po 2101 throttle actuator control motor. Po 102. MAF sensor. And 443 EGR. After I shut it down and then restarted ten minutes later. I had full power again. I guess it's an electrical interruption somewhere. I'm wondering where to start. Battery cables. And connections throughout?
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
MIKESM
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Hi Another thought. I'm thinking maybe a faulty body control module. I had a recall notice for this from GM a few years back but never got around to taking it in.
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,758 POSTS
Welcome back:

You should get the BCM recall taken care of, but I don't think that is the problem. No matter if the battery is charged or you add the booster, 12 volts is just 12 volts. You have a connection issue. Since it works with the jumper connected but not without, I suspect there is a problem right where you are attaching the booster, the battery. Remove the battery cables and properly clean both the battery terminals as well as the cable terminals. When you replace them, make sure they are tight. Interestingly, I have seen this many times in the past. The key is turned on and all lights indicate everything is fine until you try to crank it. When that is done, the extreme load on the terminals allows it to fail and shuts power down to everything. Also, when you attach the booster, the clamps on the booster cables tighten the battery terminals enough to make contact and start the engine.

I hope that made sense. I feel like I said the words battery and booster a hundred times.

Anyway, it happens enough that we have a link that discusses it. Take a look through it.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/everything-goes-dead-when-engine-is-cranked

Just for the heck of it, try what is indicated in the link. Let me know the results.

Take care,
Joe
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
MIKESM
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Hi guys, turns out the problem was the battery. I miss read the battery tester the instructions say to read it after ten seconds are up in which case the load heater has already clicked off which put it in the green range +12 volts plus when I re-tested it and read it while the load test was still in operation it read bad or in the red the people that make these testers need to re-do their instructions. Anyway I ended up cleaning all the contacts and with the old battery still connected I put a voltmeter on it read 1280 volts standing still, but when I turn the ignition switch on it fell like a rock until like nine point something volts in two minutes and of course the car had little power to even turn over. So I decided to try another battery before going into circuits etc. Well when I tried to turn on the ignition this time the voltage only fell to about 11 75 and it started right up no problem hopefully this is the end of the story. Thanks for all your help guys.
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,758 POSTS
Welcome back:
I'm glad you got it fixed. Let us know if you have questions in the future.

Take care,
Joe
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Friday, January 29th, 2021 AT 9:54 AM

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