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As the title states my mothers car is broken and I need help figuring it out.
To start it is a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am 4 cylinder/auto.
The other day she was in town and went over some railroad tracks (these tracks are higher than the pavement) and heard a loud clunk, she got to where she was going but when she came back to the car it wouldn’t start. It would crank over but not start. I got the call at work so I told them to tow it to my house and upon first inspection I found the clunk to be a broken coil spring on the drivers side.
When I tried to start it the engine would only make a half a turn then nothing. I thought the worst but I can turn the engine over by hand so there is hope. Next I checked the battery and it is fully charged but the car acts like it is dead. I checked all of the fuses and relays and all are good and on my second attempt to start the car it now has no power at all, nothing comes on at all. So I swapped the battery out with one that I have that I know is good and still nothing.Electrical issues are not my strong point so I am asking for help figuring this out. It is hard to find time to work on this because when I get home from work it is dark out and I have no garage to work in. (a weekend only kind of thing for me)
Luckily I have an extra vehicle so she is using that for now until her car is fixed.
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I would start with checking voltage drop on the battery cables
http://easyautodiagnostics.com/bad_starter_test/starter_oncar_tests_1.php
Check the wires on the starter to see if they are tight and not broken. be sure the ground cable connection on the engine block is clean and tight. I have also seen lots of ignition switch issues on those cars.
Well I looked at it more today and I now have some new things. Sometimes the lights on the dash start flashing and sometimes things come on and shut off on their own. I know the starter is good and the fuses/battery are good yet it still acts like there is no battery in the car most of the time. Checking electrical things is hard to do with no helper and the randomness of the power supply.
Well I brought the scanner home from work and it says that there is no power to the obd 2 port. Is this possibly a computer going bad from the hard hit?
[quote=”brokemechanic3000″ post=82579]Well I brought the scanner home from work and it says that there is no power to the obd 2 port. Is this possibly a computer going bad from the hard hit?[/quote]
Here is the pin out for your mom’s car, see if it helps.
I can finally start working on the car again with the weather warming up, I was thinking that there should be a breaker that may have been tripped because of the impact. If anyone knows where it is on the car please tell me.
Start with the basics. Charge the battery. Is there a good connection between the battery and ground? Are the positive connections off of the battery hot? Is there power at the various fuse blocks? Worry about esoteric things when you know all the hard wiring is intact.
You might try to rotate the engine by hand. If you can’t turn the engine by hand, the starter can’t either. There could have been some damage during the ‘bump’ incident. That said, more information on solving no start issues like yours can be found here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-no-start-problems
Good luck and keep us posted.
[quote=”brokemechanic3000″ post=99807]Well I figured it out the fuel pump died.[/quote]
Wow…
Didn’t see that coming… How did you diagnose? Since the engine wouldn’t turn one would naturally look at electrical/mechanical, not fuel delivery…
The thing about those GM fuel pumps… They do go bad (and also sometimes show the wrong fuel level)…
-Karl
I can understand the fuel pump failing cuz it’s a common issue on those cars but it doesn’t have anything to do with a no crank condition. Maybe I missed something.
She needed her car back so I put it on a car dolly and took it to where I bought my last car. The guy there does a ton of GM 4 cylinder. We worked on it for a few days after hours and got it to crank (I don’t how it started to crank again) but still no go so after checking for spark that only left fuel. I pulled the line off and tried to start it but no fuel came out. The fuel pump was all that was left.
She must have hit really hard to kill the fuel pump.
Now she is wondering if she should fix it or trade it in for something easier for her to get in and out of.
She doesn’t get around to easy anymore and The guy said he will take it in on trade as is for $1,400.00 and he has a 97 Plymouth Grand Voyager SE with 91,000 miles on a 3.3L V6 $1,600.00 after trade that is in excellent shape. No rust or body damage the interior is clean. It was some old guys vehicle that was not needed after he was put in a nursing home.
Interesting. Thanks for that bit if clarification. I’m with the group, the fuel pump diagnosis didn’t fit with the crank no start.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Keep us posted.
Well I think this will be my last post on this topic page because she decided to get the van. My mother really likes it and she is no longer sore from driving, Plus I found a set tires on wheels that are 75% for $80.00. So it seems that it all worked out for the best.
When we picked up the van I didn’t see the car there, I jokingly asked if he sold it already and he told me that after he replaced the pump the car ran good for half a day then died (back to the no start no crank). Turns out the computer went out, so it was a good thing she traded it in because repairing the car was almost the same as replacing the car.
Fixing car estimate was $1100.00
Used van $1600.00Much thanks for all of the help
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