Problem starting the car...

[bzavala]

Hi all,

My car was working fine until today after work. I set the key in the On position. Everything looked fine (radio shows correct time). Then I turned the key to Start, and it didn't... it makes a weird noise, sounds like an electric noise, and it doesn't start. When the key is back to On, the radio clock has been reset and is Off. I tried again but this time I give some gas a few times and then it started.

I waited a few minutes, set the clock to the current time, and then I turned the car off. I tried again, and the same thing happened. Car makes this noise while trying to start, the radio clock is reset again, and after giving some gas, it starts.

I drove to home fine (for abou 12 miles - for about 15 mins) and had no problems at all... It felt normal.

When I got home, I parked and turned the car off. I tried to turn it on again, and got the same problem. Same noise, clock is reset.

When I drove it, no indicator was on and all the guages looked normal. I think the battery is fine, and I'm not sure if it's a problem with the fuel pump (if it was, wouldn't I have problems while driving?)

Does this sound like an electrical problem?

My car is a 2000 Firebird and only has about 23,000 miles...

I'd like to see if it's something that I can check and fix myself, before taking it to a dealer or a shop......

Thanks for any help!

Ben

[strange_trp]

check battery. especially if it is the original battery. delco had a bad string of side-posts from about 96-2000. plus if this is original batt on a 2k model it is about time for it to give up.

good luk

[bzavala]

Thanks... I will check the battery tomorrow... but, is it possible that if it was the battery, the radio clock would be reset?

[badandy247]

yeah if it's the battery the clock will almost always fail and your computer is prolly resetting every time as well

[bzavala]

Thanks guys!

Last night I set the key in the middle position and noticed that the voltimeter was showing a low reading, so that was sign that the battery was bad.....

Today in the morning I had the same problem while starting the car; once it started the voltimeter went up... I guess once the car starts the battery is being recharged, but when the car is off, the battery is low again.

I went to Autozone; they checked it and determined the battery is bad; so I just got a new one (a Duralast with 2 year free replacement).

Now it's all fine again!

Thanks!! :D

Ben

[strange_trp]

hey man... if you got an extra 20 bucks or so pick up a cheap digital volt-ohm meter from az or sears or somewhere. it should be autoranging with an internal resistance of 10 megohms (10 million ohms). this will be very helpful in diagnosing future problems.
you want a high impedance meter because it will be module-safe.