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  1. #1
    Junior Member PUNISHERx216's Avatar
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    2001 WS6 Trans Am

    Unhappy Need some help guys...frustrated

    Hi, I don't believe this is the normal "car won't start scenario". This morning I went to start my car (01 WS6 TransAm) and as soon as I put the key in with the door open I noticed no door chime, followed by no lights on the dash, or any sign of power to anything much less there was no sound from the ignition or starter. I first thought to myself maybe its the battery ( which is a brand new optima red top puchased last month) so I checked the battery with 2 different charging testers and it was fully charged.
    Where do I go from here? I pulled a couple of fuses with no luck. I'm gonna pull them all shortly and check. Could this maybe be a ignition switch? Just confused by this.
    A little background on the car's maintanence. I have spent the last month getting the car to inspection standards. Fixed a check engine light and 02 sensor, cleared code, had the window tint removed and legal tint applied, high flow cats installed. Finally got the inspection done and passed. I went to the License plate office this morning and got my plate. I went home put it on and got in the car only to find it wouldn't start and thats where I'm at right now. As a side not I have seen a problem with the car one other time in 2008 that was similar and I had to replace the entire computer and get a complete new tune. Car lives in the garage covered up with only 42,470 miles and has seen less than 3,800 miles since 2007. Sorry I may have rambled off a little here. Just trying to give you all the details.
    Thanks for taking the time to check out/and or help with the issue.

  2. #2
    Junior Member
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    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Sorry to hear you are having this issue. The battery is fully charged, but is it properly connected? I mean, is the juice getting to where it needs to go. I sounds like that is the issue here, in my opinion.

  3. #3
    None Shall Pass Knight's Avatar
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    Have you checked the main ground from the battery? Sometimes they will not make a good connection. After that, I'd trace voltage from the battery out, and see where you're losing it at.

  4. #4
    Junior Member PUNISHERx216's Avatar
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    2001 WS6 Trans Am

    The connections to the battery at the battery posts are solid. I will try to follow the cables next. It just seems weird. And like you said it does feel like a connection issue somewhere. One of my buddies suggested checking the starter fuse. I checked that under the hood and it was good. I couldn't find a main battery relay fuse, if there even is one? Its just odd that over night after running perfectly fine that there is not any power of anykind, even the red led security lights not blinking on the dash. I'm gonna pull every fuse out shortly and then follow the power cables like you guys have suggested. Thanks. Any new thoughts ideas are welcomed. I called the dealer this morning too, they want to charge me 150.00 just to tow it 4 miles to them to look at..... I'm gonna try everything here first before I cave to that.

  5. #5
    Senior Member wileyCoyote's Avatar
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    1999 TransAm

    check every fuse - especially the ones by the driver side, just inside the door. i remember one time a bad fuse for the instrument panel/guages or something, acted like a totally dead machine (no bells/whisltes/lights, and no start), replaced w/ new fuse and back to normal...

  6. #6
    Junior Member
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    NBM
    2000 WS-6

    Its probably not a fuse, so you can save all the checking. Since nothing is working it will be a connection at the battery. I had a similar problem, happened several times. Went in to Jewel, came out and no start. The cables to the battery have a connector that is crimped on. I had corrosion build up and a bad connection. Wiggle the wires at the battery (firmly) and it should start.
    Smasher

    2000 WS-6, NBM, BGRA, Clear Lid, Delphi MAF, Bobbit EGR, FLP Long Tubes, SLP Loudmouth, STB, SFC, EradiSpeed rotors, Fire Hawks, and lots of Zaino

  7. #7
    Senior Member JayTA98's Avatar
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    1998 Trans Am

    check the wires for voltage. check at the two fuse boxes in the engine bay. Is possible the ignition switch is bad as well but check the cables 1st. if you get 12v at the fuse box check for 12v from the negative battery post to the fuse box. this will tell you if have a bad battery ground.

    I agree with the above about inspecting the cables. I had a car that had nothing and the cables looked fine. It turned out the battery cable was completely corroded inside the insulation and you cant even see it unless you cut it.

  8. #8
    Senior Member wileyCoyote's Avatar
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    1999 TransAm

    Quote Originally Posted by JayTA98 View Post
    check the wires for voltage. check at the two fuse boxes in the engine bay. Is possible the ignition switch is bad as well but check the cables 1st. if you get 12v at the fuse box check for 12v from the negative battery post to the fuse box. this will tell you if have a bad battery ground.

    I agree with the above about inspecting the cables. I had a car that had nothing and the cables looked fine. It turned out the battery cable was completely corroded inside the insulation and you cant even see it unless you cut it.
    is this common w/ all batteries, or w/ a select brand? also i wonder what the age of the OPs battery is?

  9. #9
    Senior Member JayTA98's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileyCoyote View Post
    is this common w/ all batteries, or w/ a select brand? also i wonder what the age of the OPs battery is?
    the corrosion issue with the cables happens to any car no matter what type of battery.
    1998 TA 130k A4, LS6 intake, TunedByFrost, Airlid, AIR and EGR delete, Borla exhaust, front Eibach lowering springs, LS6 valley cover, UMI TQ arm, UMI LCA's, UMI panhard bar, Poly engine mounts, BMR relocation brackets, Blistein HD shocks and struts, Oil catch can, Autotrix window fix.

    Now I have an 2001 F150 5.4L

  10. #10
    Junior Member PUNISHERx216's Avatar
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    Alright, So I got my dad out there with me and had him toggle the battery cables while I tried to start it.. Sure enough... it fired up. So I had a moment of glory for a few minutes. LoL.. Then I tried to take it out down the road. The car would stall out everytime I came to a stop sign/intersection. I thought it might not start again. Now I sometimes deal with that because of the big cam. But its never been that bad. I drove her around for a little while and problem continued. Let her sit for a few minutes then repeated. Car runs great now.. Of course 5 mins down the road the service engine light came on. It just never ends my friends. I tried to run the code on my scan tool and the code did not show up. So I'm gonna take it by someplace with a different scan tool tomorrow. Does anyone else ever go through this with their fbodies? I feel I drive it more to get it fixed than I do for pleasure. Any thoughts on the service engine light? I will find the code out and post it here tomorrow. Thanks for your help everyone, (Smasher, I'd buy you beer if I ever see you in person)

  11. #11
    Senior Member JayTA98's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PUNISHERx216 View Post
    Alright, So I got my dad out there with me and had him toggle the battery cables while I tried to start it.. Sure enough... it fired up. So I had a moment of glory for a few minutes. LoL.. Then I tried to take it out down the road. The car would stall out everytime I came to a stop sign/intersection. I thought it might not start again. Now I sometimes deal with that because of the big cam. But its never been that bad. I drove her around for a little while and problem continued. Let her sit for a few minutes then repeated. Car runs great now.. Of course 5 mins down the road the service engine light came on. It just never ends my friends. I tried to run the code on my scan tool and the code did not show up. So I'm gonna take it by someplace with a different scan tool tomorrow. Does anyone else ever go through this with their fbodies? I feel I drive it more to get it fixed than I do for pleasure. Any thoughts on the service engine light? I will find the code out and post it here tomorrow. Thanks for your help everyone, (Smasher, I'd buy you beer if I ever see you in person)
    Well start by cleaning the posts really good and make sure that the wires are not corroded. it might be time to replace the wires or terminals. The SES light could be related or something different. Fix your battery issue and see if it repeats again.

  12. #12
    None Shall Pass Knight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JayTA98 View Post
    Well start by cleaning the posts really good and make sure that the wires are not corroded. it might be time to replace the wires or terminals. The SES light could be related or something different. Fix your battery issue and see if it repeats again.
    Agree. Which wire did you wiggle to start, the pos. or neg.? Either way, it sounds like a simple bad connection issue.

  13. #13
    Waiting on the Tree transamtom's Avatar
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    If the terminals were overtightened you can pull the cable mount right off the battery.

    It will be intermitent and baffle you,pull the battery and inspect the terminals on the battery for looseness.

    If they are loose and you need a new battery,when you go to install the new batt remember "tight is tight.....too tight is cracked"

  14. #14
    Veteran 0rion's Avatar
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    99% of the time it's the ground that will corrode. You can clean that with coca-cola or baking soda and water and a wire brush. Your idle is most likely related to the battery connection issues. When your battery was virtually disconnected the car loses it's learned idle values. It has to relearn those values so until it does you'll have a flaky idle....especially with a cammed car. You didn't say, or I missed, if your car is an auto or stick. For an auto you can let it idle in park a few minutes then put it in drive a few minutes and do both of these with the a/c on and off and it'll speed up the idle relearn and keep you from stalling at lights.
    What scan tool do you use? Was the light on at the time you tried to pull the code? If you're not reading it with the light on it's time for a new tool. I would also look for a new tool that reads history codes as that'll pull the code even after the light has went out. I use an actron cp9180 (ebay for ~$60) that works pretty decent.....it'll also let you read live data which is another nice feature to have.

  15. #15
    Senior Member JayTA98's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by transamtom View Post
    If the terminals were overtightened you can pull the cable mount right off the battery.

    It will be intermitent and baffle you,pull the battery and inspect the terminals on the battery for looseness.

    If they are loose and you need a new battery,when you go to install the new batt remember "tight is tight.....too tight is cracked"
    this or you can try a bigger bolt and see if it bites the post

  16. #16
    Import Killer SLP00blueSS's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    2000 Camaro SS

    Yes all of this can be solved by cleaing the terminals on the Battery and the cable ends. I had this issue with my boat this spring but I went as far to call the dealer i got it from call him every name in the book and tell him I was going to put it thru the show room window. After 3 days of work in the rain and calling in sick one day to work on it. I sanded the cable ends and WAAALLLLLAAAAA she has been running like a top ever since. Now I have to bring myself to call the dealer and say sorry......

  17. #17
    Member speedyWS6's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by transamtom View Post
    If the terminals were overtightened you can pull the cable mount right off the battery.

    It will be intermittent and baffle you,pull the battery and inspect the terminals on the battery for looseness.

    If they are loose and you need a new battery,when you go to install the new batt remember "tight is tight.....too tight is cracked"
    Absolutely spot on..... I drove mine to work one day, took the battery out 'cause i was making a fancy battery cover on our laser machine
    at work and when i came to put the battery back i tightened the terminals back just enough to be "tight" and a flaky difficult start up followed
    so i get out go to tweak the terminals just a tad more and the positive just "fell out" the side of the battery

    Had to buy a new one and the problem was gone along....... with a chunk of hard earned!! (

  18. #18
    Member 79Firebird_99TA's Avatar
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    Sounds like the ground from the battery. Otherwise if it were the positive - it wouldn't die provided that the alternator is putting out. If the ground get's disconnected it will die and possibly take out some components along the way - so watch out for that.

  19. #19
    Junior Member PUNISHERx216's Avatar
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    You guys were right on with the battery issue and the idle needing to be "re-learned". Car runs great. I'm still showing the service engine light on. I ran the code and it is for the heated oxygen sensor again. Which is strange because I just replaced that 02 sensor on the driver side header collector and then turned the light out. I have driven the car about 25 miles since replacing it and the light came back on about 5 miles ago. The guy at autozone said just to keep driving it and the service engine light will just turn off on its own after so many miles. I guess we'll see. You guys have been really helpful. Thanks.

  20. #20
    Veteran 0rion's Avatar
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    what code is it? If it's a heater or switching code and you have headers that's a common code to have and there's just not a lot you can do about it. Some, including myself, have had luck running bosch 13111 sensors. That's not always a fix for everyone but I do think it fixes the majority.

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