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Trouble starting car

Pokealong1227

Pokealong1227

New member
Recently in my 2003 Grand Prix GT I am having trouble getting it to start. I will get in, lights are on, stereo turns on(even powers my 600W subwoofer no problem), everything electronic works perfectly, but I turn the key and suddenly everything shuts off and the key locks up. I then have to wiggle the battery cable some place between the negative and positive terminals and after the cable moves every so slightly(stays put on the terminals, just the cable moves) I hear everything power back up and the fuel pump turns on. It was only happening when I'd try and start my car before, but today I got to Chipotle and stepped out and hit the lock button on the keyfob and nothing happened. Got back in my car and sure enough all electronics were off. Had to wiggle the battery again to get it to start. The battery is only about 2 months old, if that, and this happened on the old one too. The cables are all original. The negative terminal used to be loose, so I bought a new little bolt for it and it seems to be secured now. Not sure why it would be doing this. And it's not everything single time. It happens most of the time, but sometimes it will start up no problem and no hesitation at all. It also doesn't seem like the starter to me, because ALL electronics shut off and only moving the cables directly attached to the battery fixes it. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 


your terminals are loose, fix that. if the threads are stripped they sell a thin wire mess you wrap over the bolt. you can try new bolts too.

ive used tin foil layered up and wrapped around the bolt threads in the past, just snug em as best you can. if they spin you need more tin foil.
 
If the cables will not spin by trying to turn them, they are tight. If that's the case check the ground that is directly behind the battery, it may be corroded or lose. If that is clean and tight I'd expect there to be an open in one of the cables, which is pretty unlikely. Or a bad connection between the battery terminal and the wire crimp.
 
The bolts were fine. The cover around the end of the cable was cracking and the connector the bolt goes through started to slip down pulling the bolt to a weird angle and wasn't getting a good connection. Put in a new bolt just for the sake of it(did try old one, it worked), and removed the cover and it all starts perfectly. Thanks for the help guys.
 
I just had this issue. Mine had a gap between the post and battery terminal so even tho they are tight there is a bad connection. I put a steel washer inbetween and tightened and ive been all good
 
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