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Starter; worked, then nothing, 3 tries later worked again?

On my way to my dad's retirement party in my 95 GP w/3.1 ended up stopping to get gas. Turned off engine like I always do, filled up, go to leave and... nothing. No clicks or anything. Pushed car out of fueling area & popped hood. I'm no mechanic btw, I'm in NY, 18 degrees with snow on the ground. Couldn't see starter due to the aero paneling plus I was in my dress clothes.

Anyhow, tried 3 more times, nothing. Sitting there thinking for bout a minute, went to leave (forgot bout starter for that split second) and it fired right up! Never had any problems before this at all. It's been starting normally after this too. Happened yesterday, Saturday afternoon. The car's driven every day of the work week, has started for me uneventfully up until now. Any ideas or thoughts? Should I get a new starter or maybe have a garage look at/replace the leads? TIA

BLueCoBra

Reply to
BLueCoBra
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could be an intermittent starter solenoid or possibly the battery going dead. i had the same thing happen on a 98 grand am last year. changed starter and no go, it was the battery. the reason starter was changed was because trying to jumper the starter solenoid, it would just spin and not engage flywheel

Reply to
GT Grand Prix 00

Could be pass key

Reply to
Tj

Same thing happened to my husband's 97 Sunfire. He finally had it towed and the mechanic turned the key and it fired right up. They couldn't find anything wrong and it hasn't happened again. Must be those pesky little gremlins making the rounds.

Reply to
Jan

no, pass key will just make the car die after starting.

Reply to
Paradox

Reply to
Bon·ne·ville

Well after it started again at the gas station I drove it straight for over

20 mins on the thruway with no problems. Same thing after the party, jumped in the car and 20+ mins straight home with no probs. It started when I went to work and again when it was time to go home. Maybe it was just the temperature at the time, dunno. (more below)

I don't think it's the battery or the alternator because I'm not getting any dimming of the lights or anything like that. When I start the car it turns right over with no hesitation or slowness. When I use the turn signals there's no dimming of the dash lights or anything. But one thing I should point out. Ever since I've bought the car used last September, seems like the turn signals are slow to flash on and off. Maybe this is indicative of something possibly related? When I go to make the appointment to have the outer tie rods replaced I'll have them check out the starter, battery, etc. Thanks for the insight and info

BLue

Reply to
BLueCoBra

Same thing happened to my '93. After putting up with it for several years it was getting worse so I figured that it was time for a new starter motor. When I got the cables off I saw that there was heavy tarnish on them. I cleaned the terminals and the nuts with scotch brite, reassembled it and returned the starter motor. It cranks better than ever and has not malfunctioned in the last two years.

There is a service bulletin that says this could be due to a bad neutral safety switch on automatic transmission.

uneventfully

Reply to
Scott Buchanan

Once the starter starts the car its job is over. It has nothing to do with the vehicle's ability to run 20 miles or 375 miles.

Your brushes in the starter might be worn down and grounding out on the comutator. Quite common, especially if its the original starter. It could also be the solenoid or other internal starter parts, a bad ground, corroded wire, battery

Many things for you to check tomorrow.

good luck.

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE, 3800 V6 _~_~_~_~276,459 miles_~_~_ ~_~_
Reply to
Harry Face

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