Have an 88 GTA daily driver - car has been running/driving great. This morning I go to turn the car on to go to work, but it wont start.

I have full power to "everything", I hear the fuel pump turning on...but the start does not even click/try to turn.

Would love to have some suggestons on where to start looking/test...

Thank you!

 

Yeah I have this problem too. It has happened to me over the course of a year every once in a while and every time it would start fine like 30 minutes later. Except for now... It hasn't been able to start for three days now and it is kind of annoying. I have a 1990 Iroc-z 350.If anyone has help, also let me know please!

 

Has it been raining a lot in your area? Maybe your key cylinder is corroded to the point where it can't send the signal out to the starter.

 

Nope, the car is in Vegas....so no rain at all!

 

Check under the driver's side dash. Make sure there are no loose wires. That's what happend to me one time. One small wire that just needed to be reconnected.

 

If there are no loose wires, tap the starter GENTLY with a hammer, sometimes dust gets in them and they don't want to work right. If the problem persists take the starter off and take it apart and clean the dust and whatever else is in it out.

 

Turn your ignition key on. Get a screwdriver and touch the starter positive and acc terminals together. If the the car starts then your starter is good but you may have an electrical problem from the starter terminals to the key ignition.

 

No luck on this

 

Where would the starter positive and acc terminals be?

 

On the starter solenoid. One terminal will have a thick wire coming directly from the battery, the other terminal will have a wire going into the starter motor. They'll be an inch apart or less.

 

One is a thick red and the other a smaller gauge purple however I absolutly DO NOT SUGGEST THIS METHOD!!!! You can just as easily get a test light and someone to help. Climb under with test light. 1st make sure the thick red wire has 12 volts all the time. Next have assistant turn key to Crank. You should have 12 volts on thinner purple wire. If you do the starter is no good. If you dont you either have a wiring issue, ignition or neutral safety switch issue or an issue with the lock cylinder/VATS system (if equipped)

 

.....but it sounds like the starter

 

Cool thank you, I will try this in the morning. Hopefully it is just the starter..

 

My 88 was doing this periodically. I changed out the starter and it hasn't occurred since. Good Luck.

 

if it does turn out to be the starter... take it apart... check your carbon brushes, as well as the commutator to see if the brushes are getting good contact to each individual copper segment on the commutator.(should have indentations made of mica). if it is completely flat take a thin blade to each part and score the mica(thin dark lines). also if the carbon brushes are too worn down... replace them. cost maybe $10.

it is very cheap to simply repair your starter...

 

Yes, it can be cheap/easy to repair a starter as long as the windings are OK.

 

But on the other hand takes three times as long. All depends if you want to spend $10 - $20 repairing it or just spend $50 and replace it, with a lifetime warranty.

 

Very helpful thread. I just had this happen for the first time yesterday. Quick search, and found this thread. Now I have some good ideas and learned how to troubleshoot the problem next time it occurs. :-)

 

Alright update for you all on this....

I have a mechanic friend helping me out on this now. So turns out the starter was bad, and just replaced it with a new one with a full warranty. Not bad...and car started right up. Started for about 5 or 6 times and then started doing the same thing again (not starting).

Could this be something to do with the VATS. My reasoning could go either way on this (and this is just from what I have read up on the site): I tested the resistance on the key and it was next to nothing, which leads me to believe the pellet is bad in the key... However, apparently there should be a dash security light that comes on if it is a VATS issue when you turn the key, which I am not getting any such light (firebird digital dash).

Thoughts/next steps?


but when reading up on it it looks like there shoudl be some security light that comes on on the dash....which, mine is not.

 

It's fairly easy to determine if it's a VATS issue. Test for 12v at the purple wire of the starter while trying to crank the engine. If you are getting power there, it's a starter, battery, or wiring issue, not VATS or anything else in the starter activation circuit. If no power at the purple wire, remove the driver's side kick panel and test at the start enable relay for power at the grn/wht wire while trying to crank the engine. If you have power there, it's not a VATS issue but likely a park neutral switch problem.

The grn/wht wire goes to the P/N switch from the start enable relay. From there, the purple wire goes to the starter. Check these wires at the P/N switch for power while trying to start the car.

Check for power at the yellow wires of the start enable relay while trying to start the car. If no power there, then there is a problem at the ignition switch or in the wiring to it. If there is power at the yellow wires and not at the grn/wht wire, then it is a VATS issue. Check for ground at the green wire of the start enable relay. If it has ground while trying to start the car, then the relay is bad. If no ground on the green wire, the VATS passkey module is either not receiving a correct key code or the module is bad. Try working the key in and out of the cylinder to clean and wiggle the contacts then try to start the car again.

To test the key pellet reading circuit of the VATS system, access the two small wires coming from the key contacts down the collumn to the module. There is a connector in these wires. Disconnect them there and test for resistance. The resistance there should be the same as the key pellet. If not, the contacts or wiring are damaged.
Key codes range in resistance from 402 ohms to 7.5 Kohms. Clean your key and carefully recheck its resistance. If it is not in this range, it may be damaged.

The security light should light up for two seconds with the key in run, start, or in bulb check. If it doesn't check the VATS fuse and the ECM/IGN fuse.

 

Thank you, this is very helpful!

 

If it's an automatic, hold key to start position with left hand (kind of awkward I know) and wiggle the shifter while in park and neutral. If this helps you have a bad/mis-adjusted neutral safety switch.

 

Alright so my mechanic friend helped and determined that the vats module was bad and he bypassed the box. All good and starts up great!

Now, maybe related/because of what he did....my ac/heat controls have no power going to them, so can't turn on the air. Thoughts??

 

Check your fuses.

 

Yep that was the first thing I checked, all fuses are good...

 

Did the mechanic disconnect the HVAC head? He might have pulled on the harness and caused it to come partially undone. The VATS bypass module(if he installed the type Im familiar with) requires an ignition power source. Did he cut the ignition circuit to the HVAC head to power the bypass mod?

 

Looks like he just pulled on the harness disconnecting it from the AC controls. Thank you all for your help!!