I have an 06 Chevy Aveo that has been driving me crazy the past month. If it sits for awhile (over 5 hours), it will start up no problem. So on the way to work, starts fine; after a long day at work, starts fine. But if I stop at a gas station, go to the store a couple of minutes or even sit at church for 2 hours, it will not start again unless it has been sitting for another few hours. We recently had a new battery put in. We have had the wires all cleaned. We took it to Tires Plus, who looked it over for electrical problems as well as thoroughly checked everytrhing under the hood. Only thing they came up with was to try replacing the fuel pump. We did that. Still not wanting to start. No lights on dashboard showing anything is wrong. There is fuel in the car as well. Any ideas…??
In order to give us a clue, you have to define “not starting”.
When you are in this type of situation…does the starter turn the engine…or do you hear nothing when you turn the ignition key?
Apparently, I am not the only one who is confused by the description, because one mechanic replaced the battery (which means that he apparently thought that there was not enough electrical energy for the starter to turn the engine over), and another mechanic replaced the fuel pump (which means he apparently thought that the engine was turning over properly, but not getting fuel).
Oh sorry about that. I turn the key, it wants to turn over but stops just shy. If try to rev the engine, sometimes it seems to help but not all the time. Even then it takes awhile for that to work and the car to start. The battery was already bad so that was a needed replacement. The problem has gotten worse since that time.
I think your starter motor is “heat soaking”, in other words its getting hot, expanding and locking it self up. I had an Old chevy truck that did it… One of two things have to happen, replace the starter, or in some cases the car may have had a heat shield over the starter soilionoid that has rusted or fallen off… That should be checked at well. My Chevy got a new starter still did it… Put a heat wrap over it, was better but still did it, finally a mech said it was supposed to have a heat shield and ours was gone. He made a new one with scrap metal and a welder and we never had an issue again.
I forgot to write an update on what happened with my car. We ended up taking it to the Chevy dealership in town. After a few sensors replaced, 6 days and many confused mechanics, they finally determined that my computer was messed up and had to order a new one. Costed about $550-600. Definitely could have been worse but frustrating when we had already spent $250 for Tires Plus to look at it and replace the fuel pump ourselves. But car runs fine now! Yay.
I’ve had a similar problem with my 2004 Aveo. The first time it happened was within a month of purchasing the car new. It was towed to the dealership, but when it arrived it turned over fine again and again. Every couple of years it won’t start for weeks on end, then suddenly it turns over. Since my commute is 8 miles round trip, I’ve decided it’s a higher power telling me I’m too fat and need to get on my bike.
The computer in your vehicle is warranted for 8 years/80,000 miles. So if you fall within the mileage requirement the computer should be replaced by the dealer for free.
Tester
The in-service date is important here
If the in-service date was over 8 years ago, OP is out of lock
If it’s been more than 80K, OP is out of luck
If the engine cranks ok, but doesn’t “catch and start” when hot, here’s some other ideas to consider. When the engine is hot, the ECM is supposed to adjust the air/fuel mixture accordingly. If it doesn’t, the engine may flood and not start. Sometime holding the accelerator to the floor will allow enough air to get in to balance out the extra gas helps enough that it will start. The engine coolant sensor which the ECM uses could be faulty too. A faulty fuel pressure regulator is another possibility. Leaking injectors can cause this too. If the ECM codes indicate a too-rich mixture, that would be consistent will all of these. And all can be tested for and ruled out one by one by a knowledgeable shop.