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HELP weird electrical problem

R

Rkrajnov

New member
Ok so I just got my trans replaced on my 05 grand prix GXP. I got it back and it was seemingly working alright the first couple days, but yesterday I noticed it was kind of hesitating to start. Now today I went down to the store and could barely get it started when I came out. Then I drove back to my apt and I couldn't get it started at all, just got the clicking noise over and over. Anyways I got a jump and now its starting again, but barely. It hesitates a lot and almost acts like it's not gonna start, but then it does. That battery seems to be holding voltage fine. It was staying at a steady mid 14 even with the radio blasting. I also checked it shortly after turning it off and it was at 12.9 but I still got the hesitation when trying to start it. Both the battery and alt are about 2 years old, so they shouldn't really be having any problems. I'm guessing maybe the trans shop ****ed up a ground somewhere, but I don't know where. I have a stereo system that I installed and I reconnected those grounds to the battery better (looked like they were coming a little loose) along with the factory batt grounds, but it still didn't seem to fix it. Anyone have any clue? I'm far from a mechanic haha, but I really need my car to work considering I just moved to a new town and don't know anyone around here who can give me a ride to work or anything.
 


UPDATE: Car won't start again it just clicks repeatively for about 3-5 seconds, battery is at 12.6 though. does this mean i have a loose ground somewhere? any ideas? how should I go about checking this? i have a multimeter.
 
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Also all electronics (lights, radio, etc..) are working. Checked voltage from pos to chassis and pos to engine block and both were 12.6 as well. I'm stumped. I really need some help haha. Don't want to spend any more money on this car, I've already invested a ton, especially with the new trans. Guarantee the stupid trans shop ****ed something up. They had to take it back out because they didn't set some module before and couldn't get the car started but I guess they fixed that and it's been working the past couple days. I don't know enough about cars unfortunately :(
 
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get under the front of the car, the starter is up by the front side of the oil pan, driver side. check the wires, if they are all tight. then hit the starter body, the fat round part with a hammer, 3 or 4 good shots then try to start it. if it tuns over, the starter is bad.
 


Can't do this right now cause its dark out, but hypothetically if my starter is bad, wouldn't it have not jump started? or am I incorrect about this?
 
Have your battery load tested, you already know it's charging but how much of a charge capacity the battery is actually holding is another. Age of your battery doesn't matter a day a month a year they can just go bad especially if a shop for example left your key on and let the battery go completely dead it's really hard on a battery.

My guess is if you have to jump it to get it going probably a battery.. But your starter could be taking a dump if its cranking slow all the time.. if it is going bad it can use a considerable more ammount of amperage to do its normal function.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII on Tapatalk 2
 
scottydoggs said:
get under the front of the car, the starter is up by the front side of the oil pan, driver side. check the wires, if they are all tight. then hit the starter body, the fat round part with a hammer, 3 or 4 good shots then try to start it. if it tuns over, the starter is bad.
Click to expand...

The hammer trick usually works pretty well to determine a bad starter, helps if someone can crank it while you hit it with the hammer.


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did it start with jumper cables? if so it could be the battery cables itself. bad cables cause low voltage at the end of the cable. the jump could have gave it enough power to crank.


the rapid clicking has dead battery written all over it. but the battery is good, so we need to look at the battery cables then.
 
It could have a good battery and still click. If the starter motor is just too difficult to engage you'll get the same clicking. That's why I suggested a battery load test first before just swapping it out.

If the battery passes and of course the battery terminals are nice and tight the your starter is likely the bad peice of the puzzle

Sent from my Galaxy SIII on Tapatalk 2
 


Honestly I'm guessing the trans shop ****ed up the wiring or something because they actually screwed up something before and it was having the same problem (only started on jump). I never got it back at that point and they ended up taking the trans back out and "fixing it" but its looking as if they didn't do a good job of fixing whatever was wrong. I'm probably gonna jump it and take it back to them tomm (even though its gonna be a hell of a drive).
 
There really isn't a whole lot they can screw up. The starter is mounted by 2 bolts. The wiring Consists of only 2 I believe as well, car wouldn't start at all if those wires were reversed. I can see maybe loose but I doubt that as well since they pulled it twice.

Good luck either way

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rperry435 said:
There really isn't a whole lot they can screw up. The starter is mounted by 2 bolts. The wiring Consists of only 2 I believe as well, car wouldn't start at all if those wires were reversed. I can see maybe loose but I doubt that as well since they pulled it twice.

Good luck either way

Sent from my Galaxy SIII on Tapatalk 2
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Ya I dunno, the fact they screwed it up the first time though and the same thing was happening and the fact that I had 0 electric problems before this makes me think it's on their end haha. I took it back to them so hopefully I'll find out soon. I was gonna check the starter but honestly I think the starter is fine. After jumping it I managed to get it started back up twice today. Maybe a loose connection on the starter end but I don't have a jack with me at college, so I figured what the hell, if they messed it up they can fix it.
 
ive driven up curbs to get under the car for a quick fix or checking. one tire on the curb, the other in the street. drive up at a drive way apron.

future car ramp for ya.
 
scottydoggs said:
ive driven up curbs to get under the car for a quick fix or checking. one tire on the curb, the other in the street. drive up at a drive way apron.

future car ramp for ya.
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Good point. Still don't know what the problem is. My gpa is waiting for his mechanic to get back so I can get it looked at for free.
 


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