HELP! Z34 not starting and I've got work tomorrow

[Epheron]

'93 Z34 Lumina 3.4 DOHC

 

 

So, it all started 2 weeks ago.

 

One day, I woke up and, for once, I decided I want to go to school. I get in my car and go to start it up. Guess what? It didn't start. The accessories came on, I had power to the windows and AC but the engine would not turn over. No sounds like the starter was engauging or anything, either. I kept trying to start it and eventually, it starts. This same problem happened (not including this incident) twice in the last two weeks.

 

So, rewind to 8am this morning EST. I get in my car and the car won't start. I figure, "Hey, I'll just do what I was doing before." This time, however, nothing happened. I tried jumping the car, seeing if I just had a bad battery or low charge. No dice, still didn't work. In any case, at this point I think it's the starter, or the connection is bad. I can get it tested for free, but for the life of me, I can't locate it. I would also like other opinions as to what the problems may be.

 

If anyone can help me, please post here or here are my contacts

 

AIM- TheGreatEpheron

MSN-EpheronCetta@hotmail.com

Yahoo!-EpheronCetta@yahoo.com

 

 

I REALLY NEED HELP TONIGHT/EARLY TOMORROW.

 

Thanks for reading, I appreciate you spending your time trying to help!

[Dark Ride]

Try shifting it into neutral, mine does this from time to time

 

Otherwise wiggle your battery connections leading down to the starter and try again.

 

Hope that fixes it,

Mitch

[Epheron]

I'm almost embarassed to say, I can't find the damn starter. I tried putting it in neutral and starting it at the advice of my Step-dad, but it didn't work.

[Regal_GS_1989]

Do you hear any clicking like the starter is trying to engage at all?? I am guessing that the brushes on the starter motor are worn out. If you do find the starter, you could always give it several love taps. That may be just enough to get to start up. It could also be the neutral safety switch that somehow came out of adjustment. Try slowly moving the shifter from park down into reverse, or you could start in neutral, and slowly move the shifter up into reverse, and then down into drive while holding the key to start to see if it tries to turn over. Another situation that I find would be very unlikely, but that the neutral safety swtich is so loose that the whole unit moves when you shift the trans. A very easy way to check would be to put the ignition to run, and put the trans in reverse, and then go and check to see if your reverse lights come on.

[Dark Ride]

I know on the 3.1 its right below the coil pack( which is bolted to the front of the engine block, behind the radiator. You've got a 3.4 DOHC so I'm not positive where its at but my guess would be its close to where mine is. You should be able to find it without much trouble. I'm not sure, hopefully someone who knows your engine better will comment. You should be able to trace the HUGE wires that go to it from the battery.

 

Mitch

[Epheron]

Thanks for the help, please keep the suggestions comming. It's too dark to do anything right now but I'm going to try everything tomorrow morning.

[chadz34]

I'd hit the starter a few times, when you find it. If not, try the wires that go from the battery, down to the starter. If that still doesn't work, it's probably the starter. The real pickle is, the starter makes NO effort to even click.

[digitaloutsider]

It's either the starter, or the P/N switch.

[chadz34]

It's either the starter, or the P/N switch.

Good call about the P/N switch. Do those little fuckers go out quite often or what? I remember seeing a few threads where that was the problem.

[joey b]

for the last 2+years at times, my car won't start immediately when I turn the key. Sometime I have to hold it in the start position for up to 5 seconds before the starter will engage. This is on my 92 cutlass with the 3.4

[z34Phoenix]

not sure on your year, but my 96 has a securty resistor in the key and if this is dirty or damaged or if the contacts in the ignition are D or D then it wont start. and if you try it with a damaged chip, you have to wait 5-10 min before it will let you try again.

[Epheron]

Well, I got my car running with a small smash on the starter and a jump. I drove to Advanced Auto and got my battery tested. They said it was bad so I had it replaced ($102.70, what a ripoff, even for an Interstate battery) and they also said my alternator was putting out only 4.7 amps, which, as you should know, is WAY under what it is supposed to. They could not get an accurate reading on the starter, but since the part is so expensive, and the car starts correctly now, I'm going to put off replacing it until later.

 

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP EVERYONE! This really made my day better to know that my mom isn't going to beat my ass for missing work.

 

Special thanks to Dark Ride for helping me locate the starter itself. DAMN IS THAT THING HARD TO GET TO!

[JakeMetz63]

Take off your battery cables and clean the shit out of all connections with a wire brush! On my GTP its the fuse box that is close to the battery that was dirty as hell and has the starter fuse in it. My car still does this, but my alternator is only 11k miles old and my battery is only a few months old. I want to replace my starter when its warmer out and i have the extra cash (income taxes FTW) and replace most of my electrical with lower resistance wires.

[slick]

Your only getting 4.7 volt output from your alt? If you don't replace that, your just going to kill another battery.

[Epheron]

Well aware of that, but thanks for pointing that out.

[Psych0matt]

im about to put on a starter for a 3x00, ill let ya guys know what difference that makes (a little off topic, I know, but its cheaper and smaller)

[rjtiminskygtp]

I was having the same problem with my GTP...3.4 L, turns out one of my fuel injectors needed to be replaced