Ok after school today i go to start my car wont start.. so i thoght maybe my VATS went off waited 10 mins still wont start... Battery volts looked good i dono whats up the startes isnt crankning or anything it issent even makeing any noise at all what could be wrong???? i bought a new starter justincase it is that but im not sure it is
oph y ai also put the ar through the ggears thinkingthe switch might still say the car is in drive and i know it wont start if it thinks that but it still would not frekin start

 

I thought it took VATS longer than 10 to reset? Also, if it was a VATS problem, who's to say the same problem didn't happen the second time? I suppose you could "try" the bypass, but don't hook it up; if you get stranded again, hook the bypass in (without playing with the gear selector so "just" the VATS is touched; that was a good idea to try by the way!), and try starting the car.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

FAST RS, trust me on this one!!

It's your starter. I had the exact same problems as you for like a month back in the spring. Very wise to try to run it through the gears to free up the neutral safety swotch though!!

Trust me though, what's happened is the solenoid in the starter is fried. Sometimes it'll click, sometimes it won't. When I first had this problem, I was at home, got bored, and tried to jump it, and it fired right up!! So I figured hell, all I need is a new battery, right?? I mean, my starter was only a year old, it was an AC Delco installed by a dealer, so it couldn't be the starter, right?

WRONG. It did it again a week later. I replaced the starter, and its been fine since April.

Go with me on this one, I've put 2 starters in my car and I know exactly what you're talking about. If you think it may be something else, try replacing the neutral safety switch too. Only $10-20 for one of those.

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Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8
Hypertech chip/K&N filters/Accel 8.8 wires,coil/RapidFires
Eclipse CD and 100x4 amp/Boston plates and 6x9s
JasonEE98 on AOL IM

 

Oh, and if you're wondering why it started when I jumped it that time, here's my theory (because I had to jump it 3 more times when it did this, and all 3 it fired immediately).

My theory is that the 2 batteries together gave the starter enough juice to click over the solenoid and allow the car to start. I could be wrong, but the 4 times it wouldn't start, I'd jump it and within 30 seconds it'd fire right up when jumped.

 

The starter is less then a month old and i havent had any problems today yet i am odin a tuneup toonghit tho.. if it does it again ill get a new starter and ill do the VATS bypass later this week

 

did you try the obvious???? battery???? when my battery went dead, it went without warning. one day it was fine, the next, 100% dead. couldn't even use my radio. check it with a voltmeter.

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Dan
1990 3.1L RS
80 Series Flowmaster
It's fast(er than a 3 cyl metro)

 

Cali, I got you beat. My Blazer would start up fine, nothing would phase the battery. One day my radio stopped working. NOTHING would make it work right...it'd turn itself on when I put a CD in but that's the only way it'd come on. It wouldn't play the CD, it wouldn't let me change the station, only thing I could adjust wsa the volume. Week later after I got back to college, battery went dead. Changed it, radio worked fine ever since. LOL, that radio's been everywhere. 92 Blazer, 87 Blazer, couple other cars, and now finally the bird.

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92 Bird 3.1L Auto
Best $750 I ever spent....

DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!

AIM name OVRCLCK350

 

I'm with Jason,if you checked the battery the wires and bolts -it's startermotor or solenoid.

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www.marion-becker-nidda.de
91 Firebird 3.1
Modsynomax ultra flow stainless steel

 

The battery is less then 2 weeks old i got the bigest one i could its for a chevy 1500 series truck hudge battery

 

maaaaybe.....a rodent was keepin warm in your engine compartment and it decided to munch on your battery cables.

 

Dont kid your self on that one.. During august i went to the valley in the goold old morning 405 traffic well my car started hitting 250 then hit 260 and went past that so i figured if i blow a head gasket i blow a head gasket well it was 90 in the morning no head gasket blown... so i went to my grandpas like i intended.. Then when i left started driving by then it was 110 out and my guage rapidly went up i was still like **** it if i blow my enige i blow my engine this time i burried the temp guage to probly around 300 degrees. so i went to my mechanic doin 100 down nordoff running redlights hey it coold my car down to 260 lol well i get there wait for my engine to cool off.. something chewed off my fan wire and it shorted the whole wire out.. Oh ya i knew my fan wasent working because i turne don the AC the fan still wouldnt kick on . But that whole time i never blew a head gasket or anything. Just burnt the hell out of my oil

 

it could be your alternator, i had the same problem a few weeks ago, my alternator went and in turn totally killed my battery, whenever i tried to start it, it wouldnt do anything.

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91 Blue RS with ASCD SS hood w/hood pins, Flowmaster 80 series w/3 inch dual exhaust, K&N, Hypertech Power Chip(19 years old and all this bought and paid for by myself, even the car, sorry but i cant stand all those rich little kids who have their mommy and daddy buy all their stuff)

 

Ok leme try to explain thsi the best i can
with in the past mnth i have put on a new starter alternator and new battery but my car jsut did this the other day and i havent had any probs since dono why im thinking VATS

 

You could also carry a $10 remote starter button in your car. You connect it between the starter solenoid and (+) of the battery. It allows you to crank the starter motor without using the key. (Of course if the car won't start WITH the key, it won't start with this button.) The idea here would be to verify that yes, the starter motor works, but there's something between the key and starter motor that doesn't.

Be careful when hooking up the alligator clamps; my starter switch button was stuck down. As I connected the clamp to the solenoid, the sucker started cranking; scared the crap outta me! Keep away from belts/pulleys/etc.. and it's probably safer to connect to the solenoid first, then the battery, so you're not anywhere near the pullies.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

I had the same prob.
new battery, new starter and alternator etc. and the battery went down, the reason was a dead relay at my pulldown motor at the hatch.

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www.marion-becker-nidda.de
91 Firebird 3.1
Modsynomax ultra flow stainless steel