Hello all,

I'm having a cranking problem on my 92 B4C Camaro. The car has 94,000 miles on it and is in fairly decent shape.

It had been sitting awhile outside as I have an exhaust rattle to address, but when I went to move it for the first time it did start up without really an issue as it normally does. The only thing I noticed the last few times that I did start it though is that when I turn the key, the gauges/lights cycle but it took a split second for the solenoid to kick and the starter to engage. By a split second I mean literally just enough to notice it, like less than a 1/4 second. Thats the only thing that appeared out of the ordinary.

I moved the car, let it run to charge the battery, fooled around with some replacement parking lights I just bought and when I went to move it back, the gauges/lights cycled but the starter wouldn't turn. I did hear the fuel pump cycle, just nothing to the starter. I let the car sit overnight and the next morning it started right up. I moved it, shut it off and it wouldn't crank again. I did let it sit for a day, figuring it might be heat related, but when I tried it the next morning, nothing.

I let the car sit for a few days and just touched the key today and it cranked fine. I tested the battery for voltage, which looks fine and cleaned all the battery conections, which looked fine too. After that, the car started right up. I took it for about an hour ride just to make sure the battery was fully charged and there wasn't any other issues and when I brought it back warm, nothing again. I let it sit 4 hours and just tried it now, still nothing.......I figure I'll give it a shot tomorrow morning, but I don't know what to expect.

I've done a little searching and at this point I don't think it's the battery or cables, and I don't think it has anything to do with the shifter not being all the way in park, since its started without me ever touching the shifter. I also don't think its VATS, as I would assume that would happen all the time and the key/chip really doesn't look overly worn. I'm leaning towards the solenoid/starter, but thats just a guess.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

As I do a little more searching, I'm checking out the simple stuff to try and eliminate things............

When I turn the key to the on position, the security light comes on for a second or two and goes off. It doesn't come on when I crank it, only when I cycle the key. I can also hear a relay click inside the car, which sounds like it's coming from the kick panel area.

I did a code check and there are none.

After I did the code check, the car cranked, but I didn't start it. When I cycled it and tried it again, nothing. I assume this is normal, with the VATS system as I read it disables another start attempt initially for 5 minutes, increasing the length of time the more often you try to start the car.

 

Almost sounds kinda like VATS... I just had mine bypassed a month or so ago and all my problems went away. The lights would come on on the dash, but the starter did nothing when I turned the key.

It went from happening once in a month to once a week to once a day and then I started getting really worried about getting stranded. Finally I just sucked it up and bypassed the VATS and havent had a problem since! My keys looked fine also and both of them would do it. It's the contacts in the ignition switch that wear out.

 

InfernalVortex,

Thanks for your reply............were you having any issues with the security light on the dash? After reading quite a bit about it last night, I came to the conclusion that if the light is cycling correctly and there are no codes, VATS could be eliminated. When I put the key in, my light comes on for the 2 seconds and goes off correctly every time.

Something else I've noticed too is that it never starts when it's hot which is pushing me to think it something more mechanical. Granted, I haven't tested this alot, but it seems to be consistent.

 

Another update...............

I went out and tried to start the car this morning and nothing as usual. I ran a load test on the battery and it was a little low, but still in the ok range. I also tried jumping it, still nothing.

The last thing I tried was switching batteries between cars and cleaning the connections. They were a little dirty, but nothing that looked like it would be a serious problem. After swapping batteries, it still wouldn't start.

I'm thinking at this point once the car starts again I'll move it into the garage, jack it up and take a look at the connections to the solenoid and starter. If everything looks good, I'll replace the starter.

Any additional input is appreciated!

 

I cant remember exact details... but I definitely remember noticing hte security light coming on instead of the car. I just cant remember if it would go off or not. I think it did a few seconds later but Im not positive. Might have just been because I took the keys out of the ignition that it turned off, though.

And it would also disable itself for 5 minutes or whatever it is so I'd have to sit and wait to try again. For a while this gave me the impression that my new starter (Replaced it a few months ago) was prone to getting too hot from the exhaust. But I was able to get it to do the same thing at night after not running all day, so I ruled out heat-issues.

It's got to be an intermittent short somewhere, and it could very well be in the VATS system.

I'd bypass it (It's so simple it's not even funny, and you dont even have to make it permanent, just do it temporarily for experimentation purpose) and see what happens.

The only thing I wonder about is you hering that relay switch over... I heard absolutely nothing. But see I have bad hearing also so I've never managed to be able to pickout the fuel pump priming or any of these other things a lot of people mention. Also I think if t's VATS, I think it's supposed to give you a VATS code, but you said you got no codes at all so I dont know.

 

Thanks again for your reply!

I was lucky enough to get the car started and move it into the garage last night. I guess it's gettin a little tired of not running either...lol. I jacked it up and when I checked out the starter, I found some corrosion on the main terminal on the solenoid. I'm not sure if this is the issue, but a lifetime rebuilt starter will only run me $45.00 so I'm gonna try that first. At least it should give me piece of mind that its a new part and should be ok. If that doesn't work, I'm attacking the VATS system next although I think this might do it...........

I'm picking the starter up at lunch and will put it in later..........I'll post results tonight........

 

InfernalVortex,

Just got done working on the car and it turned out to be the starter. What a pain that was on my car with the dual cat setup. In looking at it, I figured I could just slip the starter out between the pipes but that didn't happen. I ended up unbolting the driver side headpipe and prying it down. I didn't want to remove too much as the studs and pipes are fairly rusty and I didn't need to break a stud. It was still a job since I didn't have alot of room to manuver.

Anyhow, after replacing the starter, it fired up five times in a row like nobody's business and it hasn't done that in weeks. Thanks again for ur help......I'm drivin the Hot Rod to work tomorrow!

Thanks!

Tony