HELP! Car Having Trouble Starting

[gregmondro]

My car is having trouble starting. It barely starts and when it does you can smell the exhaust really bad then it clears in a couple of seconds.

when you start it, it sounds like it's almost dead. the mph jumps up to like 90
the gas guauge doesn't update until like 5 seconds after.. also the mileage thing is reset everytime :(

whats wrong with my car? Anyone please? :(

btw, not getting any SES lights or anything like that. drives fine after it starts too..

[ July 07, 2002: Message edited by: gregmondro ]

[ July 07, 2002: Message edited by: gregmondro ]</p>

[gregmondro]

think I found what's wrong.
Battery isn't charging, so i'm thinking it's dead. I turn on the car for like 30 seconds and the alternator heats up really bad. I'm gonna call the dealership tommorrow and hopefully problem solved by tuesday. everything should be under warranty.

[Mighty Thor]

Hey congrat finding that problem. I had the same problem too with my small truck and yes it was the battery. I would recommend though that you have alternator check as well. K-Mart store did that for me for free and since I like the service I went ahead and bought the battery there as well.

[gregmondro]

yeah, it only took a couple minutes to figure out once I put all the things together of what was happening. [img]smile.gif[/img]
i hope its the alternator too so the dealership can put a new one inn so that I wont have to worry about it happening again.
maybe i'll get a free battery and alternator out of the warranty before it runs out :D

[Raymond]

I'm pretty sure it's the alt. Check the wires leaveing it going back to the battery. See if it is melting from getting to hot.
BlueBird92
92 firebird 5m
160* t-stat
nothing special

[ July 08, 2002: Message edited by: Raymond ]</p>

[gregmondro]

i'll check that before I go to work today.
right now i'm just charging the b attery so I can make it there. Tommorrow hopefully i'll be able to the dealership and have them replace both the alternator and the battery. thanks btw [img]smile.gif[/img]

[gregmondro]

it's my battery :(
there is a dead cell or something. We took it to get recharged and it wouldn't recharge because of this. Now the dealership is trying to tell me if it is the alternator, it's not under warranty (i'm pretty sure it is though..)

GM Certified cars should have the alternator under warranty right?

i'm hoping it's just the battery though (pretty sure)

[bu-bye]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by gregmondro:
it's my battery :(
there is a dead cell or something. We took it to get recharged and it wouldn't recharge because of this. Now the dealership is trying to tell me if it is the alternator, it's not under warranty (i'm pretty sure it is though..)

GM Certified cars should have the alternator under warranty right?

i'm hoping it's just the battery though (pretty sure)<hr></blockquote>

The Alt is part of the drive train. The engine won't run without it. Just fight with them a little and I bet they will cave.