ok the car just started fine last night, i get in it today, go to crank it, oil temp goes all the way up, brake light goes on, and nothing, tried it in park and nuetral, also tried jumping it, no luck. any ideas? oh, and will a oil plug off a 88 bird work on this car? the bird is a 2.8 but the camaro is a 3.1

 

If nothing happens at all like the engine doesn't turn/try to turn, it is probably the security feature. You have to wait 5 minutes before you can try it again. That little chip in the key deactivates the security feature, if inserted wierd it will not deactivate and you must wait 5 minues. This happened to me 2 weeks ago and was late because of it. Read up on it in the owners manual.

 

well i kinda left the key in the ignition all night, i was thinking that might have something to do with it, but i also had the battery off of the car for a good hour (key still in the ignition stupid me) still think it might be security? that was my first guess, but i dont know that much about it, and the manual wasnt in the car when i bought it

 

left key out for awhile, car still wont start, when i turn key to start position i hear a click coming from the left side of car but thats it.

 

Its your starter. I'm 99.9% sure its your starter. The exact same thing happened to my co-worker on his 87 vert and we changed it out on our lunch break in the parking lot at work. Let me now the results.

 

Did you mean you took the battery off the car while the key was in ON?? Doing that could cause a voltage spike to the ECM and prevent the security system from starting, among other problems...

 

Hey guys.


Check your ground wires! make sure they are secure... also check your started, it definately sounds like it.. and while you have your starter out, just for precaution pull your alternator and take it to the part shop, the should be able to test it for free for you.

Is there enough juice from the battery? Also check the connections to make sure they are secure..

but I agree with aklaim.. sounds like the starter.

 

hrm, no i didnt take the bat off with the key in on, i just ment with the key in the ignition, and ill try the starter thing. fscking car

 

See if you can get someone to turn the key while you tap the starter. A lot of times a car will start, then you know the starter's on its way south.

 

same damn thing happened with my firebird, asked my neighbor to check it out, next thing i know hes under the car with a crow bar, tells me to crank it and it starts, told me he whacked the starter. ill look at it tommorow when i have a friends help, also if i jump the 2 terminals on the starter (pos and the one from the ign) and it doesnt crank the starter that tells me its a bad starter right?

 

Not necessarily. You could have a bad cable or connection going from the battery to the B+ terminal on the starter. If the cable and connections looks good then yeah it would be a bad starter. To be sure, if you got a test light check for power going to the B+ terminal. There should be power there all the time. And to the S terminal there should be power only when the key is in START. If you verify that, then the starter is definitely bad.

 

1) Make sure battery is fully charged.
2) Make sure no cables are loose/corroded.
3) Make sure you have 12V at starter.
4) Turn key to ON and try to jump the starter. A pocket screwdriver works good. Just use it to bridge the 2 wires at the starter. If it starts then you either have a VATS problem or an ignition switch problem. If it doesn't start then the starter is bad.

 

ok getting that car up on ramps in snow is a real pain in the *** when it wont start, but i fianlly got it up there and tried jumping the starter, only thing handy i had was a pair of pliars, bridged them, nothing. now say the engine were locked up (i have a problem with assuming the worse) would the starter still make a whining noise of some sort?

 

I had a similar problem on my IROC, got home from school after car had sat for a while (2-3 weeks), turned the key, and the only thing I got was one loud click, no cranking, no nothing. Put the tranny in neutral, opened the door, and used my foot to barely roll the car backward, slipped the trans back into park, which stopped the car (Not good for tranny, but at less than 1 mph, not terrible either). Turned the key, she cranked and lit. Dead spot in the starter, the cars motion/stopping turns the flywheel ever so slightly, gets to a new spot, and there you go. If you try it, DON"T GO FAST, it should be no harder or faster than when you're backing out of a driveway and quickly slide from reverse to drive with a little motion left. Also, this is a temporary fix, and the starter will eventually need to be replaced, dead spots spread over time.

 

the car has been pushed about alot up on ramps etc, im getting the starter replaced soon.

 

yes, but was it ever in motion when the car went from neutral to park? When moving a dead car the wheels turn but the motor doesn't. The whole point of banging the gears is to get the wheels to turn the flywheel ever so slightly. It is easily possible that your motor never moved even though your car did.

EDIT: If you don't need it running right now, the new starter is the better option, I needed mine running, and couldn't wait.