My 1995 Buick Lesabre has recently been having issues. It does not Crank or Hum when I turn the ignition. However, the Key locks, Headlights and Dinging when the key is left in the ignition still work. I have replaced the starter because it was getting old, and I thought it was possible to be the problem. We did have our battery tested with my battery tester, and the power was decent enough. I thought it was possible that my car is having a fuse or starter relay issue, but I am not sure.
Anytime I hear a person complain about an electrical issue on a GM vehicle, I always suggest look at the side mount battery positive cable assembly for corrosion.
Peel back the red rubber cover to expose the terminals. And if there’s a lot of corrosion, replace the cable assembly.
Tester
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For the no-crank problem, there’s several possibilities. One common one is a problematic transmission neutral safety switch. If not that, one thing is certain, if there’s 10.5 volts or more at both wires connected to the starter motor when the key is in the “start” position, the starter – if it is good — will crank the engine. Since you have a new starter, that’s where to start. Ask your shop to measure the voltage at both wires going to the starter, there’s a big thick one, and a thinner one. Both should measure at least 10.5 volts with the key in start. What are your measurements?
I should say that I’ve suggested this test here before many times, and nobody has ever said they got the problem fixed by doing it. They don’t say it didn’t work they just never come back at all with what happened. I presume when the shop does this experiment, they immediately see a problem and are able to fix it from there.
Alright! I will do so as soon as possible and come back with a response on
what’s up after it is taken to the shop! Thanks!
However, we did try to jump the starter by touching a screwdriver to the
two prongs, and it did try to start and clicked a bit, however, it did not
start, does that mean the battery is not charged enough?
Hard to say what your screwdriver test means. It’s sort of awkward to do, and you may not have been making good enough contact. The starter current is 100 amps or more, and if there’s even 0.01 ohm resistance in your screwdriver connection, that’s a loss of one volt, and with the other losses in the circuit, might well be enough to prevent a crank.
I do want to note however that My car was having issues in the past with starting, I would hold the ignition a bit longer than normal and it would start, then one day, I turned the ignition switch, and it slowly just died, dash lights, humming, and clicking, as well as the AC, leaving only the Key locks and Headlights to work.
The voltage test I mentioned above will provide the clues necessary for the shop to discover whatever is the cause of that.
sometimes is the alternator not working up to proper voltage so this is easy to do so start it when you can check the voltage off the 2 battery terminals you should see 12.5 to 14 volts with the car running.
Exactly!
Tester
So I found out what was wrong, my ignition switch went out! So that was a
relatively easy fix!
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Thank you for posting back with the cause of the problem.
Just as an FYI, I would suggest that you follow Tester’s recommendation and check those cable ends. Clean or replace as necessary including the often overlooked junction terminal near the battery. This falls under preventative maintenace; meaning better to head off a potential problem now instead of finding out about it later at an inopportune time.
I had a faulty ignition switch cause that problem too one time. Did you try starter voltage measurements experiment I suggested to get started? Or did you figure it out another way?
Your car has a micro chip in the ignition key. If it is dirty, it may not work. Clean the key with a small brush where the chip is.
Also, as suggested by another user, check the battery terminals. INSIDE the rubber coverings
Frank, the OP posted four days ago that the problem was solved.
I think the idea is to check battery cables and so on before the same problem with a different cause occurs.