Friday, December 2, 2011

2003 Chevy Cavalier will not start?

I have a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, over 133,000 miles on it currently. On Friday I drove to work, and all was fine with the car. I left work for lunch, and came back afterward and parked the car. After work, I got into the car and tried to start it. All of the dash lights lit up as usual and the radio came on, but the car would not start. It would not turn over or anything! I turn the key and nothing happens at all. I have since replaced the Ignition relay, the starter/solenoid unit, the coil packs, and the ignition switch and nothing has worked.





I have had a couple of people tell me that the Electronic Control Module is bad, but I can start the car by turning on the key and shorting the solenoid terminals with a screw driver. The car runs fine, no sputtering or stalling or hesitation, everything electrical works fine, and the battery has been tested and puts out a steady 12.5 volts even under load. Since the ECM is an expensive part I'd rather not replace it if it isn't going to fix the car.





The other suggestion people have made is that the alternator is bad, but I don't see how that could cause the no-crank problem it's having.





So I am wondering if anyone might have an idea as to what the problem could be. The car can be started by shorting the solenoid terminals and will run just perfectly with no problems, electrical or otherwise, even under heavy electrical load. It simply will not start with the key. There was no warning at all, it just happened and I'm stumped!|||the starter relay is where I would start probing with my voltmeter. I don't think I would burn more than 100 calories looking for the problem though, I would stick a radio shack pushbutton switch somewhere hidden to use for a starter button, and wire that to power the starter solenoid. problem fixed and a bonus theft deterrent.|||The problem is probably your anti theft system becoming faulty. I have the 03 cavalier myself and have the same thing happening. When I had it towed to the repair shop their computer came up with a code that the anti theft system has been activated.

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|||Is there an alarm installed in this car? If so, it may be active and not allowing current to flow to the starter relay. Check for power at the starter and work forward until you have power. But if you have power at the starter, then the starter is the problem.


good luck........

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