So my 00 GT is having a ton of trouble starting. I can go outside, try to start it and sometimes it will not start. If I keep trying the battery gets drained pretty fast and I need to roll start it, but if I just leave it be for a few hours it will fire right up. There is no ticking when it doesn't start. Nothing that would signify a dead battery. When I try too many times in a row it will not start without being push started. I put the car on a battery charger for hours with no change, but when it fired up from being push started it ran just fine with lights, radio, and A/C going.

I recently got a stereo put in (the issue started before the stereo was installed), and there is a ton of feedback from the speakers. My brother told me that is a sign of an alternator going bad because of how the speakers work or something. I had never heard of that before though. Any legitimacy to that?

At first, the shop I brought it to blamed it on the aftermarket security system, so I had that removed. Next it was pinned on the starter or solenoid, both of which I replaced today. My battery has tested fine, and my alternator couldn't be tested because the car wouldn't start under it's own power..? I didn't really understand that, but who knows. I'm getting really irritated, because I've spent close to 400 bucks diagnosing and replacing things that did not solve the problem. (Good bye dream of IRS) I was planning on just buying an alternator and seeing if that fixed it, but for 230 bucks I'm a bit more hesitant. Any other ideas?

 

Get the car to start. Then either drive to a auto parts store and have them test the alternator or do it yourself. It needs to put out at least 12.5 volts but usually you want at least 13. Also if the car is running you can take a battery terminal off and see if the car still runs. If it dies the alternator is bad. Don't forget to check the simple things like the terminals and battery cables. Many times it's something simple like that. Also try and swap your starter relay with another like it and see if that fixes the problem

 

Nothing happened when I pulled the negative lead off of the battery. Cables/terminals look fine. I'll try swapping the relay.

 

I swapped the relay with the one next to it for the fog lights and it worked exactly the same. You can hear the starter start to try, then a light "thud" and it just stops. Try again and it does not even "thud."

I'm starting to think there is a lot more happening than I originally anticipated because now my idle is super unhappy. I will be posting a video in a minute.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWQvtNTeJgc - Is the link to my idle video.

 

I'm not the most knowledgeable in car engines, but maybe try taking a look at the injectors. A clogged injector could cause a rough idle, and theoretically the O2 sensor would detect a lean situation and overcompensate by dumping more fuel into the other cylinders, creating a hydro-lock, which could be why you can't get it started after trying to start it a few times off the starter. Please correct me if I'm wrong or making no sense at all, I'm just curious to find out what the issue is.

 

It was the battery cables. They were apparently not very well installed the first go around, so the mechanic just redid it and apparently it "should" work now. So far so good, but it's only been two starts, so who knows.

 

Glad to hear it was only something minor, although it's the minor things that always drive you crazy

 

Yup. I just wish now that I didn't spend so much money on something so minor. If not for that starter I would have IRS right now. Oh well. Live and learn; just bring it to the shop first.