# Car occasionally won't start

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** pontiac, g6\
**Created:** [May 5, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875 "2015-05-05T02:32:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rileigh128](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rileigh128](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rileigh128)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875/1 "2015-05-05T02:32:30Z")

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About 1 out of 10 times, the car won’t start- turn the key, dashboard, lights and radio turn on, but no sounds. If I wait an hour, it starts. It has a new battery (and we tried jumpstarting to no avail). It is not weather/temp dependent. Tried different keys, and remote start doesn’t work either. Only 20k miles on the car.

Is this the starter motor or something?

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875/2 "2015-05-05T02:40:01Z")

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My prime suspect would be loose or corroded battery terminal connections.

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**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875/3 "2015-05-05T02:46:05Z")

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The next time the engine won’t start, shift the transmission into neutral and then try starting the engine.

If the engine starts when doing this, there’s a problem with the transmission range/park/neutral safety switch.

Tester

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**Author:** ![nessa369](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@nessa369](https://community.cartalk.com/u/nessa369)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875/4 "2015-05-14T01:33:29Z")

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what if after a few hours it still doesn’t start? could it possibly be the starter solenoid

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**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-occasionally-wont-start/89875/5 "2015-05-14T03:41:11Z")

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Have you tried your other key when this happens?