Ok this problem started 2 yrs ago when I took a turn on a street and all of a sudden my starter kicked on. Grinding the gears quickly pulled off to the side and pulled the Crank Fuse. Never having that problem again I was eating at applebee's approx 1 1/2 ago and I remote started my car bc it was cold and went out put the key in the ING and moved it to run not start the starter was energized and for some reason when I turned it to run it engaged the starter during the middle of a ice storm. I had no choice but to let the starter crank until my bat. was dead. The next day I went where my car was and hooked up some jumper cable to check to see if my car would hold a charge or power up. Nothing happend at all I realized the starter selenoid was open and the current was flowing enormously fast and didnt do anything to the engine besides get the jumper cables really hot. I figured i burned out the starter and selenoid so I had it towed home and spent a good 3 hours replacing it with a the most expensive one Advanced Autoparts carried. Everything worked perfectly fine until today when i pulled into taco bell when i turned a corner and it starter engaged again. After approx 1 min of it cranking it shut off. I went in and ate and came back 15 mins later and tried starting it and it cranked once but the batt. was so low it couldnt start it so I waited till a freind showed up tried to jump it but the starter wont engage all the lights turn on but no click no nothing. I am about to head over there with a voltameter to see if I have power goin to the starter. Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this to happen? If it helps I have a 89 Firebird GTA with a 5.7. Thanks in advanced

 

There might be a clue in there somewhere....

Your car didn't come with that. Somebody put it on later. Who knows how hacked the wiring might be, or if maybe the unit itself has a problem. Although it sounds more like a wiring issue than anything else.

I'd find that unit and take a real good look at how it was installed.

 

the only thing is if there were a problem with the remote start dont you think the problem would have surfaced before now. I have had that alarm/remote starter on my car for almost 4 yrs. and never had a problem with it. I do agree I believe there is a wireing problem but i dont know exactly how to trace it back.

 

Not necessarily. It suddenly became the time for it to break.

Get yourself a service manual and start tracing wires.

There's not much choice here.... a car without a remote start will never do that. I have never in my life heard of that. Think about it..... you have this one mod, whose job it is to start the car; it's precisely that one function, out of however many hundreds of functions the electrical system has, that's gone haywire.

I could tell you all sorts of stupid stuff; I could tell you I have the magic bullet that will instantly cure it, it'll cost you $19.95 plus shipping, and you might even buy it. But I'm not a liar, so I won't do that; and I won't just tell you some stupid stuff that's what I think you want to hear. I'd like to think you came here to get sound advice and truth.

"The simplest explanation that fits all the facts is usually the right one."
-Occam, ancient Greek philosopher; from the days when cars had a handle that stuck through the radiator to remotely start them

 

It is probably your ignition switch on the column. I suspect you have the starter contacts sticking together. Replace the switch and the problem will probably go away.

 

If you do think it is the remote start is there a way to disconnect it from the alarm brain without having to rewire the relays?

 

Could be.

That would depend on how the alarm was hacked into the wiring. If done neatly it should be pretty easy. If it was done with a Jeffrey Dahmer saw and an acetylene torch, it might be a bit more of a challenge.

 

well then my question is, is it a matter of just disconnecting from the brain or rewiring?

 

Hard to say.... that would depend on what was done in the process of putting in there. If it's done really neat, all you might have to do is pull a plug or 2. If it's really gross, .... who knows. It's kind of hidden from me right now, I can't see it very clearly, so I can't be much more specific.

 

Personally, I would obtain the installation manual for the remote starter (if you don't already have it) and start checking every wire that feeds power to your starter. I have seen too many times people running wiring through the fireall improperly causing the wires to chaffe and eventually wear through the insulation causing the wire to ground. My guess would be to start there.