Car Starting Problems

This is an easy one. 1) remove battery cables 2) remove screws aroun steering column 3) try to start car one more time 4) buy a Haynes repair manual for the vehicle

move the stearing wheel slightly back and forth, then stay at your chosen position that you tunred your stearng wheel then turn key

the vehicle is in park...isn't it?

This answer is based on experience with my aunt's ~1995 Toyota pickup, but it should apply to the Camry, too. I imagine her problem was similar to yours. I had set out to bypass the switch, but ultimately did not have to (read on).

Look for the switch behind the clutch pedal. When the clutch is depressed, the switch is engaged when the arm of the clutch pedal presses a button on the switch assembely. Although I am sure that you could bypass the switch, you probably don't need to. On the truck I was working on, the problem was that the button was not fully depressed when the clutch was depressed. You can test whether the switch is working by pushing the button and starting the car. If it works, you can make sure that the switch button gets fully pressed in when the clutch is depressed. The switch is mounted on a piece of sheet metal; using an adjustable wrench or pliers, bend the switch assembly toward the rear of the car. Alternatively, you could shim the button by glueing a piece of plastic to the end of the button. if none of that works, unplug that switch and put a jumper between the 2 wires that go to it.

I had the same problem on my 1996 Pontiac firebird, they told me that my ignition cylinder had went out. Maybe you could ask about that, I don't know what would cause that to go out though?

I had a similar problem 1998 Mystique LS. It was a burnt out relay. Also the ignition switch (what the key turns on...I'm not a mechanic I think that is what it was called) was worn and I had to replace switch.

Check to make sure you connections are all tight.

No the problem is caused by 1 of 4 things, but is most notably the first one.

Replace the Spark plug wires, and the spark plugs. Fouled or incorrectly gapped plugs will cause backfires like crazy. Also poor sparking wires will most certainly cause backfiring problems. I practically replaced and rebuilt the whole darn engine, before realizing that I hadn't replaced the wires ever.

Also the intake manifold and air cleaner may need to be cleaned out. Often the gunk built up inside the intake manifold can cause the system to be leaky via the vaccuum seals of the valves. This is not loads of fun to do, but can be done, and requires someone with knowledge of tools to remove the various components and get at the internal parts of the upper intake manifold to wash out the upper valves with carb cleaner spray, and paper towels.

Lastly you could have a vaccuum leak. Those are most fun to diagnose as you need to listen for a hissing sound. One or more of the hoses connected under the manifold may be disconnected. These hoses are not usually made out of the best material in the world, and may have become cracked, broken, or don't hold a good seal. Replacing them can be a bear, because often times there isn't a cheaply made replacement available. But use your best judgment and the people at Home Depot/Lowe's/Autozone may be able to help.

Once again, this matter varies from certain factors. In my expierence, this little car has done an excellent job from 91 to now (ours). But, when wear and tear takes its toll, here is where you will begin to notice it. If your car spits or sputters some at idle, you are having either injector problem and or head-valves and or valve-guides problems. You may just need a tuneup too. For instance, if your airfilter were kinda clogged, that would do it too. If the car is wasting more gas thasn usual, this is a sign. In short, there are certain things you need to cover or take care of, in order to get to the bigger picture. Listen, if you have not tuned this vehicle in the last 2 yrs, do it now, or when the weather permits. If you have tuned it on time, then you are looking for problems in the areas I just mentioned. Keep in mind that some problems are mechanical while others are electrical.

Bad or discharged battery, bad ground, dirty connections at the battery, or a bad starter.

First jack the front of the vehicle up and support it securely on jack stands(make sure you push on the car a few times after you put the jack stands under it to be sure it is securely support before you crawl under it).Next disconnect the positive battery terminal from the battery.Now with you shop light get under the vehicle,the start should be on the passenger side of you vehicle,near where the motor and transmission connect.Disconnect the wires going to the starter making sure you label them to make reinstallation easier.Now take out the two bolts the hold the starter in place making sure to support the starter before you pull out the last bolt so it doesn't drop on your head.Installation is the reverse of removal. you out.

The first thing to do is to have a shop pull the computer codes or get a scanner from a place like AutoZone. That will help you pinpoint the problem and make this whole answer pointless. Does it crank/turn over? If not then you have a bad starting system. The starter motor is the most likely culprit, althought it could be a bad relay. If it does crank, then read on. Cars need three things to run: 1.Fuel 2. Air 3. Spark (Combustion). If the engine doesn't have all three in a reasonably ideal mix, then your engine will not run. If you'd like a more detailed explanation, e-mail me at fast_farmboy@yahoo.com.

Or you could give about twenty attempts while holding the brake down when you start it like a stick shift. Then always start it while holding in the brake. The only way to make it so you don't have to hold the brake everytime you start it is to take it to someone who knows how to switch over the grey rally switch located under the hood....right in the front.

starter on 1990 jimmy is located on passenger side of motor under the sparkplugs. You have to reach it from underneath the vehicle. It is round and long in shape the size of a MASON jar. Italso has at least 2 wires attached to it.

Get a manual on your car from the parts store or from AUTOBOOKSONLINE.COM. This is not a job for the backyard mechanic as you have to hold the engine while the trans is pulled.

not specific for car type, but the starter should be near the rear of the engine this being that it comes in contact with the flywheel/flexplate, (between engine and transmission) usually to replace you just remove the two or three bolts attaching it to the flywheel cover and then it pulls right out, and then to install a new one it is just the reverse.

Get an OBD II scan tool that will show live data. (most autoparts store have loaners, be sure to ask for one the will show live data) Pull up the RPM reading and crank the engine over. Hold accelerator to floor to shut off fuel to the engine. No reading find the crank sensor, inspect for damage, unplug electrical connector and clean it with electrcial contact cleaner spray and then plug the connector back into the sensor. Crank the engine while watching for RPM reading, again hold down the accelerator to prevent fuel flow to the engine. If you have RPM reading now sensor is ok, engine should run. I have seen to many Sables with just dirty connections at the crank sensor. The sensor by nature is very durable and should not fail. If you still do not see RPM you may have a internally damaged sensor or wiring problem.

Corrosion sucks

G

That is correct but the best way to tell if the crank sensor is bad is if the car doesnt crank when its unpluged and cranks when its plugged up then its good.

It is most likely a normal condition. The engine needs to build up oil pressure to lubricate the rollers. No damage should result. it is not the roller lifters it is the piston pin it has a slight amount of play and when the piston heats up the aluminum will expand and quite up

The first thing I would check is the idle speed, second thing I would look (and listen) for is a vacuum leak, these are the 2 most common causes of your problem. Bill Alley

Check the plugs to make sure they aren't fouled. Then maybe the fuel pump. If it dies when you hit the brakes, that's electrical. I'd say it's the fuel pump, filter, etc.

When plugs are fouled, it probably wouldn't want to start, and brakes aren't electrical and the fuel pump isn't real likely either. Or maybe it ins't any of these, may want to look further down the list for a better answer.

Actually when you step on the brakes, it takes power from the battery or alternator to run the pump for the master cylinder on the brakes. (not true)

Doing so will cause your car to stall if the idle is too low. Turn the idle up and see if it happens again.

Same thing with the in gear driving. Putting the car in gear will drop the rpm to half or less than what it is already. Or maybe there is a better explanation down below.

The brakes have no pump. If they are power brakes, then it has a booster (and the booster uses engine vacuum, not electrical power) you can't adjust the idle speed in a FIed car. When you put the car in gear, the rpm should stay steady since the FI system should adjust for loads on the engine (turning the a/c on, putting car in gear, turning on lights etc) Do a tune up and go from there. By the sounds of it though, this is a lock-up torque convertor problem. The convertor lock is stuck on so the torque convertor is "solid" when you put it in gear.

If it is not an engine problem, it should be a problem with the transmission. When the gearshift is in drive, in this case, the gears get jammed with each other, causing the whole engine/drivetrain to lock up, stalling the engine. You should get a repair as soon as possible.

I know this sounds dumb,but i had a firebird that did the same thing in my shop & the only thing wrong was somebody put the wrong Tail light bulb in the socket & then forced it in wrong so when the brakes were applied it back fed the ignition system & killed the motor-It turned out 2 b a easy fix because I noticed the front running lights would come on when the brakes were applied when it pulled in 2 the shop.

I had that happen to me with my 86 Grand Am, it turned out to be a PCV valve, which was very cheap to fix...you could also try that.

It sounds like something I have been going through, In my case the car has an automatic transmition and the "Lock up celenoid" is the culpret. This little item (costs about 40 bucks give or take) is located in a ussually easy to get to area In my ride it is there right after removing the Trany pan.

What this thing does is causes the Torque converter to "Lock up" to the drive shaft - ussually in an overdrive type thing. When it gets stuck your car will stall.

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The fixes that where suggested to me where replace the celenoid or try to use fresh trany fluid ( for a short term fix )

Later! hbooker

check your fuel filter & fuel pump/pressure...........also, once you put it in gear it puts a load on the engine, faulty igniton wires may start to "arc" once the load is on, it will cause engine to run like s***t or even stall completely...

Have a 95 Barina C14NZ with auto tranmission. Drives fine, idles fine, but when it is put into gear it stalls. Traced fault to temperature sensor connector (the one for the computer at the back of the manifold -- not the fan one at the radiator). This connector had some minor corrosion which increased the resistance and hence told the computer that the engine is cold, even when the engine was at operating temperature. This caused the engine to idle a bit higher, so when it was put into Drive or Reverse, it would cause the transmission to grab and stall the engine. Wriggling the connector temporarily fixed the problem; and replacing the temperature sensor was the final remedy. Good luck trouble shooting! :-)

I have 93 New Yorker - Car ran fine in park, but any other gear and it stalled. Believe it or not the black box (with the keys) had batteries that were dead. It had to do with the car alarm - New batteries, car runs fine in all gears. You could give it a try.

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the best bet is not to run out of gas, turning the key to the on position turns the fuel pump on for about 3 seconds, then turn the key off, wait 5 seconds then turn it to the on position then continue to start the the vehicle. it should run normally with no problems.

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This is assuming you drive a fuel injected vehicle. A carburetor needs to be primed by putting a small amount of gas in the carburetor and trying to start it. You may have to do this a few times until it will run on it's own.

NEVER PUT GAS IN WHILE CRANKING THE MOTOR !!!

It could flash back in your face and singe your eyebrows (don't ask me how I know). Or cause you to lose your eyesight, or worse yet, singe your lungs!

I also recommend to pull out your car's manual to see if it has special instructions about starting your car after you've ran out of gas. I remember when my cousin took his gf that he met on 'dream marriage' on a road trip, and he ran out of gas he didn't check that his car had a fuel injection reset button that he supposed to set.

As far as cars with carburetors never NEVER pour raw gasoline into them. The pressure from the fuel pump should be enough to get fuel to it. If gasoline is not getting to the carburetor then there is something else wrong. If you ran out of gas, the fuel filter is probably clogged because running the tank to empty will pick up a lot of crap that is on the bottom of the tank. Another way to get the car going, and gas thoughout the system (fuel injector systems), Is to spray carberator cleaner into the Air intake mainifold (throttle body).

The camshaft sensor on a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am is located behind the rear bearing cap. It detects the position of the camshaft as it rotates and relays this information to the computer.

There are several relays on that vehicle. We need to know which one you are looking for.

More then likely The fuel pump has quit pumping fuel. Possible cause: Fuel pump relay,Fuel pump fuse, Bad fuel pump stopped up fuel filter, Not enough fuel pressure. If it's fuel injected then it should be no lower are higher then the factory FUEL PRESSURE SPEC'S.

It would help alot to know what you are working on. Year, engine size and what it is. Does it have fuel in it, for SURE ? Check fuel pressure with fuel gauge. Very important to check with a GAUGE.

Poor preventative maintenance is a leading cause of vehicle breakdowns.