I am having a strange problem with my car. My mechanic normally works on Fords so he doesn’t know everything about Pontiacs. I’m hoping Rick or someone else can shed some light.
I have over 118 thousand miles on my 2002 Aztek. I had a starting problem that I thought was the battery. Basicly it would crank but not turn over. I replaced the battery and it was fine for three days. Then we replaced the starter because we thought was the problem.
It cured the problem for a week or two but now it’s occuring again. 99% of the time I try to start the car it’s fine. That 1% though it almost doesn’t start. The lights go low, the engine cranks then it starts. I notice that when this happens the time on the radio is reset to 12:00
Let’s start with definition of terms. Crank = turn over = makes a ruh-ruh-ruh sound (normally 2-4 pulses per second) when the key is in the “start” position. Many people misunderstand “turn over” to mean “catch and run” after the starter is cranking. No. The starter cranking is turning over.
Now let’s clarify the symptom. I believe in the first paragraph above you’re saying the engine cranked, but did not catch and run. Is that correct? If so, and if we’re talking about the engine cranking at a normal pace, the battery and starter were not logical suspects. However, if the symptom ceased for a while after replacing each of those, it suggests that there was a problem with cranking - either it didn’t crank or it cranked slowly. So my question is, which is it? Continuous cranking at normal cranking speed but not starting, or slow/no cranking?
The second paragraph above adds more confusion. Lights going low and clock resetting, which suggest lack of battery power, are not compatible with normal cranking, which requires plenty of battery power. Did you mean to say “the lights go low and there’s no (or slow) cranking at first, then after a moment the engine cranks [normally] then it starts”? As written, it seems to say that the lights are significantly low while it’s cranking normally, which is essentially not possible.
Now, I’m guessing that what’s being described is slow/no cranking for a moment, followed by normal cranking and starting, and further that when it cranks normally it always catches and runs. Is that correct? If so, almost certainly there’s a poor connection between the battery and starter. The thing to do is carefully inspect, clean, and tighten all battery cable connections - both ends of each positive and negative cable. Be on the lookout for corrosion that has worked into any cable.