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2003 No Start Mystery

I have a 2003 Ion that I've had since last March. All was well with the car up until the first cold spell here in the northeast, around the end of October. The problem is this: When I attempt to start the vehicle in the morning, it will not start. No clicking, nothing. I do have full battery usage. Upon taking it in the 1st time, I was told that there was a bad cell in the battery, and that they replaced the battery. Now comes the best part...if I wait a few hours, the car starts right up! And having the car towed to the dealership, they are unable to replicate the "No Starting" problem. I get it back from them, and lo & behold, a few weeks later that same thing happens. The last time, in late December, the said that the main ground wire was a wee bit loose, and they tightened it, along with performing the two recalls. And all was well until this morning (Jan 8) when the car threw me a curveball...it started in my driveway (morning temp was approx 16 degrees) and drove it about 5 miles to fill up the 1/4 tank, and upon attempting to start after gassing up, no start! I'm desparate here. And I'm sure the dealership is as well. Since they are unable to replicate it, they don't see it as a problem. I have a 7.5 month pregnant wife & a job of which I need reliable transportation. I really like the ION, as it serves it's purpose for what I need, but, I need it to start! Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Reply to
bstitt
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I'd have them check the crankcase position sensor.

Reply to
Kevin T

Is it an automatic? If so, may it's not quite in park, and the switch isn't engaged. Try shifting to neutral and then start, the next time it happens.

Reply to
Skid

If it was the crank sensor the car would at least turn over. He says it doesn't even click.

Sounds like something maybe in the neutral safety switch circuit ?

Reply to
BANDIT2941

Back in the late 80's a had a Toyota Corolla that had similar type of problem. Had about 5 tows and $1500 of repairs done by the dealer; battery, alternator, starter you named it, they replaced it at least once (none of which is actually the problem). I started to carry the schematic and a voltmeter in the car and sure enough, next time it happened I found a intermittant connection on a connector (starter relay). The odds of a mechanic ever finding this were (pretty much) ZERO!

Reply to
Zaf

I have similar problem. Battery, starter, park/neutral switch are all good. Luckily I have remote starter so I tried and it work. Later I found out that my ignition switch was defective. So if you have a remote starter, try it next time.

Reply to
no email

Thanks for all the responses! After it was towed into the dealership, lo & behold, the car would not start for them. Turned out to be a bad "ignition module" in the steering column. And the tech found two error codes. They replaced the module, then "relearned" the security codes, and all seems well. We'll see if it stays well for several weeks!

Reply to
bstitt

I hope it works out for you. You might want to network with some neighboors, find out number of taxi service, ect to have a back up plan if something goes wrong when she tells you it is time to go to the hospital.

You might not be home, car could have a flat, yada yada. We tend to expect our autos to work every time we want to use them and plan that way.

Wes

Reply to
clutch

Reply to
Woobie

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