coon11

I have a 2006 Cobalt SS/SC. My problem is that everything in the car powers on. Radio, lights, everything. But the car will not crank when you turn the key over. You can roll start it and it starts fine. We had a new starter put it in, new battery, new terminal cables, checked to make sure it was grounding good. The weird thing about it is sometimes it will randomly start, but it is just as random for not starting. Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution? I've googled, searched everywhere and no luck. We have tried everything we know possible.

tl;dr car gets power to radio/lights etc. but will not crank. tried everything

Chevycobaltss3

iTrader: (2)

Check ip fuse, also make sure security light is not on. The other thing is to make sure you have power going to starter.

bluebalt07

iTrader: (8)

I had a similar issue after changing my clutch and it was a loose connection on the bottom of the fuse box.

coon11

IP fuse i suppose you mean instrument panel. I checked all the crank fuses and nothing. And no the anti theft system hasnt kicked in.

By fuse box i suppose you mean the one under the hood correct? and the red/black on the right bottom corner was loose?

robertmichaels

iTrader: (1)

Check to see if you are getting voltage to the small wire that goes to the starter, I had the same problem after I changed my engine, turned out I forgot to tighten the nut for that wire and it wasnt making contact all the time

kzak104

iTrader: (1)

clutch safety switch? it doesnt think your holding the clutch in

coon11

We thought it could be that, but we are believing it's something electrical.

K-Train04RL

iTrader: (1)

Make sure the jump post on you fuse box is tight. Happened to me. Had the fuse box out for roll pin replacement, put it back together and had this issue for awhile until I realized what the problem coul be

BankerBalt

Replace the crank relay. Or swap with rear defog temporarily

DPaul6590

iTrader: (1)

Is it turning over, but not cranking? or not turning over at all?

Mine would turn over but would not actually start. Didn't have any spark from the coils. Ended up being the injector fuse was blown.

coon11

Just tried and nothing.

Going to give this a try in a little while. Will let you know you are talking about the big metal thing sticking up or are you talking about tightening the actual wires themselves?

It will not turn over at all. When you turn the key you hear a click but no sign of the engine even trying to start.

DPaul6590

iTrader: (1)

I had that happen as well, but it was because I had the starter hooked up wrong haha

bluebalt07

iTrader: (8)

Yes the one under the hood and it could be that post on the right bottom corner. My problem though was there are like 5 big plugs on the underside of the fuse box. They are the wiring for all the stuff in the car and my plugs weren't seated correctly and therefore not contacting the fuses right. So somehow I ended up with power to all the accessories, but car wouldn't start and a few other minor things. All I had to do was take the fuse box back out and push in the plugs a little more and it solved my problem.

Coblasts

Sounds like a ignition switch might be wore out,try turning it slowly and stopping when you hear it crank.
Had a problem like that on my other car.turn the key to fast and it went to far and didn't make contact in the switch .
Will give you the wires to check later tonight to trouble shoot the ignition when I get time.

Do you have and know how to use multi- meter ?a 12v light probe will work as well.

LS6Rally

iTrader: (14)

^ i dont think its an ignition switch. sounds like voltage. if its clicking when you turn the Key to "start" then you dont have enough power to turn the motor over. im willing to bet the guys who are saying something is loose, are correct

coon11

pm'd called the dealer and this is what we are beginning to believe it might be. 50/50 on it, but if you can pm me that before I take it to the dealer monday that would be awesome. Thanks

Coblasts

Easiest and first thing to check (Note check all fuses with a meter either using the ohm setting with the fuse taken out or on the dc setting checking both sides of the fuse with one lead to ground)

In anyway is looking at a fuse to see if it's blown a good enough check unless it is charred black!!!!

Missed this on disconnect battery and check PCM connectors are seated properly.

1)purple wire on the starter has 12v when trying to start the car(feeds the selinoid from the crank relay)crank fuse 30 amps under hood fuse box

2)Power passing through the clutch switch,yellow and pink wires should have power on both sides to ground
When cluth is depressed.(circut is fed by the fuse 16 on the bcm hvac/ip ign)no power check fuse

3)For the ignition switch there is another fuse on the Bcm(IGN SW /pk3 2 amp fuse shows on the prints

4) Also there are two others fuses worth checking under the hood (they are labeled bcm 3-30 amps and bcm 4 -40 amps they feed the starting circut as well.

5) For the switch itself:
There are five wires
(Terminal number in brackets) example (6).

White/black (6) 5 volt dc part of the theft deterrent

Red/white (2) 12volts dc fed from the bcm ign/SW fuse(for actually turning on the crank relay when you try to start the car)

White wire (5) looks like 5 volts passes through the switch to the bcm when car is started (Not sure on this one)

Yellow (3) 12 volts dc fed from the switch back to the bcm from the switch to the crank relay when car is started(should read 12vdc here I would think when trying to start the car)

Brown (4) 12 volts dc ,Feds the theft deterrent modul and the ignition lock selinoid .


I take no responsibility for what happens to your car while checking any of these thing with a meter.
The material and advice is to the best of my abilitys and I am not a trained tech.

If nothing can be found at fault you can also check all bcm connectors for tightness( maybe even remove them and look for burnt pins etc) with the battery disconnected of course!
Hope this information is helpful.

coon11

Bumping. Took it to the dealer has the whole new ignition put in and a new key and $300 later it's still not wanting to crank. It started fine this morning when I took it stopped at the bank came back out started fine again. But now that im back home it does the same thing, turn key over and nothing happens doesnt even start cranking. so $600 and 2 months and still have not figured out what it is.

Coblasts

When you turn the key on but not trying to start it,Do you hear the pump priming?

CannonBalt

Check all body grounds.. I had this same problem because I removed my ground under the drivers headlight and didn't put it back on tight enough when I re-did my hid's

robertmichaels

iTrader: (1)

Clean both battery posts

insylem

Have some one or if you have an (interceptor you can witch it yourself) moniter voltage as you try to crank it. See how far the voltage goes down. If your watching it on the interceptor wait till it boots up first. Itll get abit dim when you try to start it but should still display the voltage.

If the voltage goes down significantly, then its somethign with the battery/ battery connections.
If the voltage stays reletivly the same, then its something in the control circuits.

nxperiencd

This happened to me yesterday. It was one of the 2A fuses in the passenger side fuse box. Cant remember the name off the top of my head but there are only 2 of those size fuses on that panel

coon11

yes the fuel pump is priming just had a new one put on. and checked all the fuses because my boost gauge is stuck at 5 now and i was looking at that yesterday.

coon11

was just thinking it started doing this after i changed the hid bulb in my driver side.. can you take a pic or be more specific on what came loose?