hiljak

Logan, I have ran down the above leads and couldn't find any problems described there. The problem just happened again and I couldn't get it start even by jumping across the relay points. So.... I tried putting the car in nuetral and it fired right up. After I got it started, it starts fine in park (the problem has been intermittent from the get-go). Do you think the neutral safety switch could be having an intermittent problem or is this likely a red herring and coincidence? Thanks for your input.

thanks logan, I will try to run all these down and report back.

Any electrical gurus out there?

this is a copy of my post from another forum: I've had an ongoing problem with my 05 STS not starting. About a month ago, my car just wouldn't start. The lights and all acceseries would work fine, but when I would hit the start button, nothing, just the orange engine light for 20 seconds, then everything would kick back on. (the car kills everything but the engine light while starting when working normal). I baught a new battery which seemed to fix the issue. The next morning, car won't start again. Swapped the battery again and it worked. Everything seemed fine for a day or two, then the car does it again. I fiddled with the battery connections (unscrewed then screwed them back in) and after a few more presses of the button, the car started and continued to work for a couple weeks. This lead me to believe that maybe the start button was worn and not making the full connection when pressed. I swapped the start button and everything was fine for about a month. Now, same thing happening. I don't think its the battery because the car won't crank with a craftsman jumper charger connected either (and battery reads like 13 volts on the dash). Here's what I've tried: changed the starter switch. swapped the starter relay for another identical relay in the fuse panel. swapped the "crank/start" micro-relay with another identical in the fuse panel unhooked the bolt which connects the ground cable to the strut tower and cleaned. What else can I do here? I'm going to maybe have the battery swapped under warranty tomorrow. Any ideas of how to trouboeshoot this? *MY POST FROM AFTER I GOT THE CAR TO START* Battery was tested and is fine. I checked the starter power wire and was seeing 12.4 volts. The purple wire feeding the starter solenoid was displaying .08 volts with no change when hitting the start button or with the remote start. Decided to remove the starter relay and jump the points manually with a jumper wire; this made the starter turn over immediately. I put the relay back in and the car fired right up. I'm not sure what this is telling me. It would seem the relay was bad but I tried another good relay earlier and the starter still didn't engage (and the relay is working fine now). I'm thinking either 1. the purple wire that feeds the starter solenoid may have an intermittent short or loose connection somewhere between the under-hood fuse panel (from the starter relay) and the starter solenoid 2. there is a short or loose connection somewhere between the start button and the trigger point for the starter relay (but maybe this is controlled with GMLAN command??). What I don't know is why manually jumping the relay would make the symptom disapear? Any ideas?

If it won't come loose and looks corroded, spray some lime away on it and let it sit for about 20 mins. Then take hammer and hit it directly in the center to break the corrosion free. It should come out with a breaker bar easily then.

Did you try to jump the compressor relay? It's under the hood, under the fuse panel (take the whole black panel off) then there is another small cover over the relays. You will see a "legend" on the inside of the black panel that shows what each relay is. Pull the compressor relay, then jump the two points closest to the headlight then see if the clutch is engaged. If it isn't, leave the relay socket jumped and check for voltage at the compressor. You are basically taking the computer out of the picture when you jump the relay. Hope this helps.

I'll describe the troubleshooting process that helped me and you should be able to track down your problem pretty easily (or at least isolate it somewhat). 1. Turn your a/c to auto and on high. 2. Go in to your diagnostic mode (hold engine off and warmer), look for any codes (particulary low coolant, if so got to step 4), after any codes, it will say PCM?, hit the fan higher button for the next menu then if the front defroster symbol is lit, the comptuer is telling the compressor to come on (powering the relay). 3.a. If it is lit but the compressor clutch is not spinning, try juming the two points on the relay socket closest to the headlight. If it now engages, you may have a bad relay or short between relay and compressor, or computer to relay. 3.b. If the defrost is not lit up on the above listed menu (with a/c supposed to be on), the computer knows the system is not charged. 4. Unhook the negative battery for 15 mins or so and then attemp to command on comressor. It should then spin, if the coolant isn't right, it should throw the code and kick off the compressor. (note that I also had a bad low pressure switch). this should get you goiing in the right direction. good luck.