Jump to content
CaddyInfo Cadillac Forum

She won't start!


Recommended Posts

Friday night turned out to be quite the episode, staring the STS as the lead player.

Basically what happened was I drove downtown with one of my friends after a highschool golf tourny to pick up my Mom from work. She works at one of the big buildings on "the strip", so i parked in the middle of the road, which is a two lane street with an empty section in the middle. We thought it would be funny to dress in 1970's era golf attire for the tournament, and that turn out to only add to the humour of the ensuing situation.

After poping the 4-ways on and figuring I would only be waiting a few moments, I decided to turn off the motor...that turned out to be a bad decision.

About a minute later I went to fire it up again, but to no avail!

The battery volts were fine, lots of juice there, but she just wouldn't turn over.

I noticed the engine temp was up to 236 degrees...quite high, but even after cooling down it was still "dead".

Now this problem has occured before, and I know it can pop up just like "that" due to the battery connections corroding. I was confident a good cleaning would solve the issue, so I called my Dad to have him bring a wratchet set, and a wire brush wth some WD-40.

After a good cleaning of the connections, the starter would still not engage, which was very deflating because I was so confident of this as the fix.

So here me and my friend are, standing around a broken down Cadillac in the middle of "the strip" dressed like a couple of guys from the movie "Caddy Shack" lol :lol: The scene attacted quite a audience, because everyone thought we just needed a jump, which a few people insisted on trying before giving up.

We ended up calling a tow truck, which only added to the drama of the situation because it was a flat-bed one that pulls the car up onto the platform. By the time every thing was wrapped up, it was 7:30...and we were there to pick my mom up for 4:30!

I remember reference to the Park/Neutral switch getting out of wack, and preventing the starter from engaging. Should I assume that is where the problem lies?

As of now the car is immobile, although it is in my Dad's trusted mechanics hands.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Does the starter click or anything? Do you get interior lights when you turn the key? Does the horn honk?

Maybe a bad starter or ignition. Try jumping the starter with the key to the on position and see if she fires up.

Cad1

92 Deville w/210k miles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since you know you have a corrsion problem, check the cables carefully. Sometimes if it is bad the corrosion will creep back under the cable insulation and could cause your problem. Been there, done that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Open the trunk and check the fuses. I do not remember which one it is, I think it was IGN. In any case that may be the problem, it controls the power to the starter relay.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that a good WACK on the starter with a hammer (not too hard though) usually works around here when a starter bungs up. Your starter could be on the way for a good rebuild or just a set of brushes, unless there is some kind of crazy new starter on there that I have never heard about :huh: . Just my $0.02.

Spence

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know that a good WACK on the starter with a hammer (not too hard though) usually works around here when a starter bungs up.  Your starter could be on the way for a good rebuild or just a set of brushes, unless there is some kind of crazy new starter on there that I have never heard about  :huh: .  Just my $0.02.

Spence

Hmm...which hammer do you use, to reach under the intake manifold to whack the starter with? LOL

I have tapped on a starter or three in the past, but the Northstar dosen't seem to have that many problems, as a number of my past vehicles.

I had my starter go dead as stated above with seemingly all of the power availible, and it was the fuse in the trunk fuse block. Actually it blew twice, I never found out the reason and it hasn't happened in over two years. It controls power to the starter relay, which is hidden under the left front door threshold. The relay seems to be protected pretty good there, unless you have a chronic water leak in that area.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About a minute later I went to fire it up again, but to no avail!

The battery volts were fine, lots of juice there, but she just wouldn't turn over.

I noticed the engine temp was up to 236 degrees...quite high, but even after cooling down it was still "dead".

.................

I remember reference to the Park/Neutral switch getting out of wack, and preventing the starter from engaging. Should I assume that is where the problem lies?

Hey, I had a similar problem (though in a parking lot, wearing normal clothes lol). Had it towed to the garage, where it turned out to be the PRND switch as you suggested. Would be worth checking out for sure.

I had voltage, but when I turned the ignition to start, nothing happened.

Let us know what you find.

-Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ARE YOU sure the battery is good , sounds like a dead cell in battery. With a dead cell lights and horn usually work , but no start. LIFE Of BATTERY , ABOUT 28 TO 36 MONTHS, , now i know that a lot of batteries last longer , but my experience with 17 vehicles , is ab out 28 to 36 month, does not matter about where it comes from or number of months of warranty. REMEMBER , YOU are looking at cranking amps not volts. have it load tested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How long did the car sit with the engine off before you tried to restart it and you noticed the temp was 236?

I let it sit for about ten minutes, and the temp got it self down below 200, but that didn't seem to help at all.

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does the starter click or anything? Do you get interior lights when you turn the key? Does the horn honk?

Maybe a bad starter or ignition. Try jumping the starter with the key to the on position and see if she fires up.

Cad1

I never tried the horn, but the starter does not click...nothing happens.

One detail I noticed was that the radio did not cut out when the key was turned to "start". Could that be a clue to something?

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I let it sit for about ten minutes, and the temp got it self down below 200, but that didn't seem to help at all.
:D my car won't restart if the temp is higher than 170! Well... I am sure it is the bad ground on the engine block. will fix some time soon.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Open the trunk and check the fuses. I do not remember which one it is, I think it was IGN. In any case that may be the problem, it controls the power to the starter relay.

-George

I'll run over to the garage tomorrow (where the car is presently), and check out the fuse there.

That will be a piece of cake if that is what it turns out to be! :)

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With regards to the park/neutral switch. Did you try to start the car in neutral?

Yeah, I tried it in Neutral too. :(

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About a minute later I went to fire it up again, but to no avail!

The battery volts were fine, lots of juice there, but she just wouldn't turn over.

I noticed the engine temp was up to 236 degrees...quite high, but even after cooling down it was still "dead".

.................

I remember reference to the Park/Neutral switch getting out of wack, and preventing the starter from engaging. Should I assume that is where the problem lies?

Hey, I had a similar problem (though in a parking lot, wearing normal clothes lol). Had it towed to the garage, where it turned out to be the PRND switch as you suggested. Would be worth checking out for sure.

I had voltage, but when I turned the ignition to start, nothing happened.

Let us know what you find.

Hmm, that is interesting too.

I am thinking now that either

a)it is the PRND switch

or

b)it is that fuse in the trunk

I know the battery is solid, as it is only a year old, but I guess I can't rule out a rotten cable.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

Tomorrow (Monday) I'll get to the bottom of it! B)

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't assume that the battery is good just because it is only a year old. Last week I had to replace a battery in my Suburban. It was only 7 months old. I took it back to Sam's Club & they checked it out. A bad cell. They got a new one off the rack & I asked them to use their solid state checker on the new one. It was bad also! :o

We got another one off the shelf, & it checked fine.

The moral of the story is just because the battery is nearly new, don't think that it can't be the culprit. Batteries are easy to check and if bad, can cause a lot of symptoms that lead you to believe it is something else wrong.

The other easy thing is to check the battery's connections. I have seen dirty connections foil even jump starts if hooked to the dirty terminals.

Also the neutral safety switch can be going bad. I have gotten cars to start by holding the key in the start position and shifting from park to neutral a few times.

Good Luck,

Britt

Britt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well thanks to all you guys who put word in on this... the problem has been located and eliminated!

It was the fuse :blink:

The mechanic was about to throw in the towel this morning, and take it to a more "sophisticated" guy he knew and have him look at it.

I called him up and told him to check the fuse out, which he didn't seem to agree with but...

Ten minutes later I get a call "Darn, you were right... that internet thing you use [Caddyinfo!] sure is clever!

Ahhhh! All is well again! B)

post-3-1115678330_thumb.jpg

" ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..."

- Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra'

Scott

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well thanks to all you guys who put word in on this... the problem has been located and eliminated!

It was the fuse :blink:

The mechanic was about to throw in the towel this morning, and take it to a more "sophisticated" guy he knew and have him look at it.

I called him up and told him to check the fuse out, which he didn't seem to agree with but...

Ten minutes later I get a call "Darn, you were right... that internet thing you use [Caddyinfo!] sure is clever!

Ahhhh! All is well again! B)

Glad it was just the fuse. I never did find anything wrong when mine blew (on two occasions), but after a couple of years it is still fine. Just a "gremlin" I guess.

If you haven't done it yet make sure that your battery cables are clean and tight.

Make sure to have a couple of spares, of the right amperage, to keep in the car for emergencies.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...