Hello All,

My daughters 02 has suddenly developed a no start problem. Last week it threw the serpentine belt, and had to be towed to my brother's shop. Came back and everything was great. Then, Friday night it failed to start at a gas station. Battery tests good at 12.7. There does not appear to be a voltage drop upon turning the key to start. After trying to start a few times, we had given up and were going to tow it again. Suddenly, it started. Ran find all weekend, and then same problem last night. My brother printed some wiring diagrams and suggested possible antitheft circuit problem. My daughter claims to have opened the window, locked and unlocked, etc, and tried again to no avail. She did say this happened once a few months ago, but never mentioned it as teenagers will do....

Does anyone have any experience with this so I can get some direction for my brother to look at it closer? The tow eye magically did not come with the car, so an actual flatbed tow is $150 from where I live. And he would rather check it dead than get it running and bring it in. There were no codes for anything like this when he went over the car with his scan tool last week.

 

Start simple. Check the condition of the battery terminals. Use a brass brush to clean them up. If the terminals are made of lead, you can use a can of soda to help clean them up. If they are made of aluminum, that won't do much for you.

 

Thank you.

They seemed fine when I looked on Friday. I will pull them off and get a better look tonight. I bought a load tester since i really need to have one anyway. Will give that a look this evening also. Have read a couple other possibilities, steering wheel not being locked, possible bad keyfob, etc. I really think it is something simple like a bad connection or ground. Just have not had time to properly get at it. Any more ideas are welcome.

thanks again.

 

If the battery was changed at some time in the past, make sure the wires are seated flush against the terminal bases. You have to loosen them up pretty good. Take a large socket (say, 15 or 16mm), add an extension to it (3" or 6", whichever is more convenient), and tap on it with a hammer overtop the terminal post to make sure they are down all the way. Had to go through that issue myself. An open-faced wrench will also work, but the wrench ends will dig into the terminal wire ends if you do it too much.

 

How about this: What size serpentine belt did they put on and how did they do it? I have a handy how-to for this in the how-to section, but you should inquire about what belt they used (should be a 41.5 inch for the Just-A-Cooper/R50) and if it got routed correctly. It is hard to find the listing for the right size belt and easy to route it incorrectly.

My idea here is that the alternator isn't turning/turning enough to properly charge the system, which would be caused by an improper belt or routing. The alternator also could have seized, causing the belt to be thrown.

Just giving you another place to look.

Val

 

12.7 volts doesn't mean anything... Have you tried jumping it and does it start when you do? If it does, it is the battery or alternator.

 

Thanks for the replies. It was a bad connection on the battery - side.
I am guessing that Friday, upon the first no start, when I checked the cables I moved it just enough to re-gain a decent connection temporarily. Visually, it looked fine. The load test showed a crap battery. Struck me as odd as the battery is only two years old. I also know better than to trust a visual... I work on a lot of old inboard ski boats. After turning the key to start, it really seemed like a connection problem. I grabbed the ground and put some stink on it. Rotated the terminal a couple degrees and it started right up. Removed terminals, cleaned both sides with wire brush, re-seated and tightened down. Voila.

My daughter is once again a very happy girl.

Thanks again for all the help. This site rocks.

Mike

 

Glad it's fixed.

 

Had a similar issue! I kept having no power, turns out my battery cables weren't tightened enough onto the battery posts! I am glad you figured it out! Happy Motoring