Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Hey guys need your help here. Last night it happened once & this morning she won't fire. I have plenty of bolts 11.6 from my battery however when I attempt to start her she clicks once & that's it. She doesn't even try to crank & again only one click.

I know that this could be a starter issue but just want to make sure it's not from the custom tune that I just had done on Sunday.

I just had a new starter put in 2.5 years ago and about 35k miles ago however when I called the shop I found out that they put the cheap starter in that only had a one year warranty.

On Sunday I had a street tweak done by Zzp. I had a canned tune by then fir my new 60# injectors but had a slight idle lope so on Sunday they tuned my dueling tables which got rid of the idle lope & I think they changed the pulse rate to prevent the idle lope from coming back.

Could this start issue be from that tune ?

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

Starting issue shouldn't be the tune. I would take your battery by a parts store and have them test it for you or try a jump start. Volt reading doesn't always tell you the full story. Sounds to me like a bad battery more than anything.

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

If it was the battery wouldn't it be clicking multiple times not just once ?

I do know that my battery is now 6.5 years old & about 100k miles since last replaced & my alternator is about 5.5 years old & 80k miles

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

No, not necessarily. Troubleshooting is about ruling out potential causes 1 at a time. The battery just happens to be very easy to rule out by either testing it or trying to jump start. Given everything you have told us I also think it is the most likely culprit.

Henry3959

Doug... 11.6 is a discharged battery. In the auto industry 12.6 is fully charged and 11.8 is at the bottom of the operating range. Get rid of the 6 year old battery. The clicking you are hearing is the solenoid closing which takes only 25 amps. If your starter had a bad ground through the brushes and commutator you wouldn't even get that.

Snail_SS

iTrader: (3)

Yeah that battery is dead.12.6 V is what you should have

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

I agree with everyone else. Sounds like you lost a cell. A lot of batteries only last 4-5 yrs now. 6 years is really good. If you don't have at least 12 volts the computer will say no bueno.

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Thanks so much for the feedback guys this is all good stuff & if your right it will save me a lot of $ getting a new battery vs a starter!

So 11.6 with just the keys in the ignition is way lower than it should be?

I know that when she's running I'm right at 14.8 volts & then when all lights are on she drops to around 14.6 volts.

I do agree that even though they put in a cheap starter my OEM lasted 10 years so I really can't see how a 2.5 year starter could have went out already plus not to mention my starter sounds nice & strong every time I fire her up since replacing it

I guess with my battery I would have expected it to give me more of a warning before going out plus I always thought that when it's the battery it would click multiple times not just once but like you all said could be that bad cell

Henry3959

Try jump starting it

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Didn't have time this morning but will try that tonight, I actually pulled out my new portable batter jumper & plugged it in so that I could start caring that around with me

Henry3959

Even though the battery is due to be replaced, The cost to jump start it is FREE. The clatter you were referring to is common on a GM solenoid that has an open hold in coil. Yours sounds fine... just not enough current to get the armature to start turning.

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

So the verdict is in. We did the load test on the battery & charging system & despite my battery being 6.5 years old & over 100k miles it actually tested fine my alternator did as well plus my charging system checked out the issue was a dead cell in my starter!!

I'm so pissed at Tire Discounters, 2.5 years ago back on 11-5-2015 they charged me around $650 for what I thought @ the time was a new starter especially for that price however come to find out they installed the cheapest starter they could find I think it was a Remi & it only had a 1 year warranty on it!!

This time I took her to my techs shop who installed a good new one with a lifetime warranty. In addition even though my battery is checking out fine now I went ahead & had him install a Duralast Gold battery with 650 cold starting amps. It came with a 3 year warranty & then they pro rate the warranty after that. In addition Tire Discounters installed a junk brand of sway bar end links on my car 2.5 years ago which are now extremely loose & making a lot of noise. TD did confirm that they are under a lifetime warranty however despite both me & my tech showing them how loose they are TD is claiming that nothing is wrong with them & therefore they will not replace them under warranty. I said the heck with it & had my tech install new Moog problem solver sway bar end links on both the driver & passenger side today which as you guys know carry a lifetime warranty.

My tech of course did not charge me any labor or tax on the battery install, he only charged me 30 minutes of total labor to install both sway bar end links & 1.5 hours in labor on my starter.

All together for the good stater, battery & sway bar end links plus labor he had me at 762

It's a crap ton of $ especially seeing that I just put $1500 into my front end & new tires just last week but he's price is way better than most shops around here & trust me I will never use Tire Discounters ever again!!!!

The only reason I ever used them in the past is Because I have a TD credit card & when $ is tight & I need work done that I don't have time for I would go through them.

In the past I would have done most of this work on my own but lately I've been putting in 60-70 hours a week at work so just no time

Thanks again fir everyone's help I guess this one all took us by surprise with it being the starter & not the battery

O & I installed my fuse box, coil, & headlight covers from Juan Lopez today !

Henry3959

Did you try jump starting it?
Starters don't have dead cells... Batteries can have a bad cell though.
Why was the battery at 11.6v?

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Sorry man meant to say a dead spot in the starter

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

How did you verify the starter had a dead spot? Also, why would you replace a battery if it tested out fine?

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

So not able to answer your 1st question until I pick her up from the shop tomorrow & talk to my tech more, the only thing I really got from him was that he had the same issue that I did with it not starting & clicking once. He tested both the battery & the alternator 1st per my request after speaking with u all however they tested fine.

He said there was a dead spot in my starter not sure if the brushes were sticking or what, he replaced the starter only & she fired right up every time he tested it so it had to be the starter.

Your 2nd question is easy to answer. I have a wife that is about to kill me & set my car on fire if I drop another dollar into my car lol so with my luck I would spend all of this $ now to replace my starter & sway bar end links & then the 2nd I get her back my 6.5 year old 100k miles battery would take a crap

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

Good call on the battery because it was ready to go at any time. You can lose a cell in the blink of an eye and be stuck somewhere.

jdbaugh1

iTrader: (1)

I don't see how the batter tested out fine, with 11.6 volts, if they did an actual load test.

umrdyldo

iTrader: (1)

I agree, It should read more than that in just the Run position.

Changing the battery should have been your first move. It's an easy change you should have done anyway due to age.

Snail_SS

iTrader: (3)

Hey Doug by any chance did your headlight covers get a slight curve to them when installed? If I tighten the bolt that goes on the headlight bracket to much it will curve and the SS gets deformed and lifts up

Sharkey

iTrader: (1)

starters on modern gm cars dont rapidly click when your trying to start the car with a dead battery. the reason older cars do this is simple, when the solenoid engages you get the loud click, and then the motor starts cranking. if the battery is low there isnt enough current to crank the motor what happens is the solenoid engages, the voltage gets pulled low because there isnt enough power to crank the engine and the solenoid disengages because there isnt the voltage to hold the solenoid in. when that happens the battery voltage jumps back up, so the starter solenoid engages again making the loud click, and it keeps repeating, making the familiar CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK till you release the key.

on more modern gm cars both the pcm and bcm control the starter solenoid. if when it goes to crank they detect the voltage drops below a preset point it disengages the starter and doesnt engage it again till you hit the key. this is why it clicks once and stops.

from what you initially described with the low battery voltage, i think your starter was just fine and it was just a battery problem. the battery was likely a little weak, and after the key being on for a little bit of time while it was being flashed just pulled it down the rest of the way. i had something similar happen, my battery seemed just fine but was old, i adjusted my headlights one day without the car running (maybe took 2-3 minutes) and the car started just fine after, but the next day it wouldnt start and the voltage was low.

armcclure

iTrader: (2)

If a batter tests fine out of the car but bad hooked up, it's almost always a ground issue.

Henry3959

Tests.... as in what kind of testing?
I havent seen or tested a battery with anything other than a conductance tester in the past 20 years.

Doug's Cobalt SS SC

Everything your saying makes perfect sense for sure, I don't think my tech would ever do me like that plus again we replaced the starter 1st with the old battery still in & then she fired right up