Ive had an intermitting issue for about a week now with my car on startup. The first sign of anything I had was one week ago when my car lost the time in the radio. The next day, the car had a hard time cranking while in a WalMart parking lot. Finally got it cranked and got home. My dad checked out the battery and the cables as he saw they were loose. During this, he disconnected the battery for a short time. He took it to the dealer where he works and they did a crank position relearn thing on it, or something similar that involves running the car for 10 mintues with some kind of tool hooked up to it. It worked fairly well after that. It might hesitate for a split second, then crank on the first try. Over the course of the week, it has got a little bit worse. Sometimes, it cranks just like it always has, and other times, I have to turn the switch a few times before it cranks. When it cranks, everything seems to be fine...no sputtering or anything of the like. The only thing out of place I have noticed is the battery voltage on the DIC. After a battle with it today, I watched the voltage while driving. When started, it was low then slowly climbed up to around 12.x. It would be around 12.6 for a little bit...then go up as high as 13.6 to 13.7...then it may randomly drop back down to 12.6 then back up. It would fluctuate all over the place, even when driving. The car has yet to throw a check engine light or a code. Any help with this? Think my battery could be about to die? I have no idea how old it is.

 

YES!!!! Take that POS battery out and have someone test it. I bet it is bad! How old is it and what manufacture made it. If it is OEM I don't care if it is good or bad, it is subject to a catastrophic acid leak which will destroy you wiring and PCM!

I would clean the battery cables and flush them out with WD-40. You could also have a problem in the Theft deterrent/safety switch circuits.

Lets get the battery looked at and make sure that it's NOT the issue first. Take it to auto zone or Advance Auto Parts! They can test it for cranking capacity and do a load test on it.

Let us know hoy it turns out and if you continue to have problems cranking. I had a 98 and know what your going through!

BC

 

Its not an OEM battery. I believe its an Everstart, but its been in there for at least 2 years. My father works at a GM dealer so he can run tests on the battery himself (free of charge ) Too bad he isn't a mechanic.


Ive also noticed that if I let the car sit overnight, it starts easier. If I crank it 3 or 4 times during the day, it will have a harder time cranking towards the end of the day. This is the first real issue Ive had with my car that wasn't just a little annoyance that could be easily fixed.

 

What is your battery voltage at the battery terminals when the engine is not running and when the engine is idling? If you dont have a hand held volt meter, use the meter on the dash and the digital meter in the DIC.

BC

 

It really varies. This morning, the car cranked flawlessly when I was going to church. I monitored the voltage on the DIC my whole trip. When it first cranked, it started at 11.x then immediately rose to 14.x. The whole trip it stayed around 14.1 to 14.2, occasionally fluctuating down to around 13.9. When the car has a hard time cranking, Ive watched it stay arong 13.6 to 13.8 with more fluctuation, going down as low as he mid 12s while driving.