I have a 91 Camaro RS with 3.1 V6. I am in the process of "restoring" it and I have been starting her up at least once a week for a good while. I get insurance and tags on it the other day and get ready to go for a short drive to sew how everything is and all of a sudden it wont start. Fuel pump primes, I get nothing when I switch to start. Sometimes the fan comes on when I turn it on. Then sometimes I get a bunch of clicks, but still nothing. I see no security light coming on but I want to check for VATS code and when I jump the terminal its like everything is going haywire under the dash. Clicks all over the place, service lights flickering, just a hot mess.

I really am at a loss. I would like to get a few ideas as to what this might be before I tear into the dash chasing stuff. Any help is appreciated!

 

Have you taken both battery cables off your battery and cleaned them up real good. Pull the other end of the ground off the chassis and clean that up and put back together. Remove clean and replace every ground you can find.

 

I know the battery ends are good. I replaced the battery earlier this year and they were good and clean. I will check the chassis side of the ground in the morning.

Another thing I forgot to mention is the tone when you leave the key in the ignition doesn't always come on. I can kinda wiggle the key a bit and it will come on. I'm planning on taking the cylinder out and making sure everything is good and tight. I dropped the column down and I cant really get to the ignition switch to take it out. Is there a better way to get the steering column to drop far enough? I have a spare ECM I will be trying tomorrow also. Hopefully I can find out whats wrong!

 

Ok, changed the ECM, ignition switch, and key cylinder with no change. I did find what was clicking though. It is the anti-theft relay in the left kick panel. Is it supposed to click over and over? I took a short video of the whole sequence.

http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=IMG_1585.mp4

BTW, I now know what "that" is, lol!

 

In that case highly likely the relay is faulty and not holding the starter motor circuit contacts in.
You can confirm by unplugging the relay and putting a jumper wire between the two thick wires in the relay
connector so it bypasses the relay completely.
If it starts you can either replace the relay or just join the two wires together permanently ;
VATS ( security ) will still stop the engine from being started by shutting off the injectors

 

I had a similar issue and it was because a cell was bad in the battery..

 

I do believe this might be the problem. I was just out in the shop messing with the neutral safety switch (which was not the problem) when I decided to check the battery voltage. I got 12.1 volts but then it drops to 6v when trying to start it. Boy I feel dumb! I really hope this is the problem. At least I can take the lock cylinder back ($50) and get a new battery!

Thanks for all the replies! I will post an update as soon as I get the new lead installed!

 

Get the battery load tested first

 

They did perform a load test at Autozone and it was toast. I got a new battery waiting to be put in tomorrow after work!

 

SHE'S ALIIIVE!! ALIIIIIIIVE!!!!
LOL, man I wish I had just checked the battery in the first place.... Oh well, lesson learned. Everything is working as it should and I have a brand new Yellow Top Optima! The last one I had lasted 10 years! Hopefully this one will last that long.

Thanks for all the help with my "problem"!

 

Glad to hear it! 1 more camaro back on the road.