2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Electronic systems, stereo and Holden iQ, wiring, it all goes here....
v8suprcapric
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:58 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by v8suprcapric »

Almost stuck at a gas station recently :shock: Now it seems like the starter is bad. I cross my fingers before trying to start the car. I hear the click sound coming from underneath the car when I turn the key, I hold the key and my breath and wait for it to start turning over, it's taken as long as 5 seconds to do this, but lately it just doesn't. When it doesn't turn over, a few seconds after the initial click I hear another click. Is this the starter gear coming out and then going back in? Recently on an 800 mile drive home I had to resort to not shutting the car off because after getting gas it took about 20 tries to get lucky and for no reason that I can understand it finally decided to turn over like it should.
Image
1987 Landau (383 stroker, vortec heads, 700r4, posi rear, Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, Bassett 15x8, BFGoodrich 275/60, 9C1 speedo)
2011 9C3 (K&N CAI, Weldcraft widened 18x9 factory steelies, Bridgestone 285/35)
smwalker
Administration Staff
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Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:44 am
Location: Azusa,CA

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by smwalker »

What have you checked to correct?

Just a few strategies we have tried in other threads:
Check health of main battery 12.4 volts or higher best bet.
Disconnect the AUX battery to take it out of the equation.
If you got a jumper cable long enough (18 footer) run it from the Negative battery terminal to ground on the engine. See if better results ensue.
Steve Walker
Azusa, CA
'11 PPV 9C3 Huron White
v8suprcapric
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:58 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by v8suprcapric »

smwalker wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:18 pm What have you checked to correct?

Just a few strategies we have tried in other threads:
Check health of main battery 12.4 volts or higher best bet.
Disconnect the AUX battery to take it out of the equation.
If you got a jumper cable long enough (18 footer) run it from the Negative battery terminal to ground on the engine. See if better results ensue.
I haven't checked anything. It has a brand new battery in it though. The dealer replaced the ignition under warranty last year but that didn't fix the issue. And they replaced the ignition based simply on me telling them that sometimes it turns over right away and sometimes it doesn't. So I don't know what they checked to make them decide to replace just the ignition.
Image
1987 Landau (383 stroker, vortec heads, 700r4, posi rear, Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, Bassett 15x8, BFGoodrich 275/60, 9C1 speedo)
2011 9C3 (K&N CAI, Weldcraft widened 18x9 factory steelies, Bridgestone 285/35)
Groundczero
Posts: 93
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:52 am

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by Groundczero »

Seeing if this problem was ever figured out I am starting to see a similar issue.
GammaFlat
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:26 am
Location: NW Indiana

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by GammaFlat »

Many electrical problems are solved by fixing/improving grounds. Everything from the infamous Nova/Camaro tail light problem to computer maladies can be caused by a crappy ground. Remove, clean and re-mount grounds... especially those that connect the engine to frame, frame to body and body to engine. I have not experienced electrical gremlins on my Caprice (yet) but have seen issues on other cars that I've fixed by adding grounds and/or fixing bad grounds.
If something always doesn't work, it may be a broken component like a relay. If something sometimes works, it's more likely a weak/failing connection.
Current: 2013 9C3, deeper trans pan, 12VoltSolutions Remote, Class III hitch, Android Auto capable radio
v8suprcapric
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:58 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by v8suprcapric »

After reading DapperDanMan's thread on not being able to remove his key from the ignition http://www.newcaprice.com/forum/viewtop ... f=9&t=4217 I became suspicious that maybe I was having the problem with the pin that contacts the pin switch that tells the car it's in Park. So I took the shifter trim off and got in there, and all looks good with the pin. And of course once I took everything off I had 100% success starting the car multiple times. In recent days before this I was having horrible success, maybe 10%. It was so bad I would make my girlfriend come with me on short errands to wait in the car so I wouldn't have to shut it off. Could the pin switch be my problem? So strange because I will try to start the car 5-10 times and finally it will start like nothing is wrong at all. And strange now that it's acting perfect after I've taken all the shifter trim off. Not sure why I can't post the photos but the links should work.

[media]https://flic.kr/p/2m8CBTj[/media]

[media]https://flic.kr/p/2m8yV2x[/media]

[media]https://flic.kr/p/2m8ySL5[/media]
Image
1987 Landau (383 stroker, vortec heads, 700r4, posi rear, Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs, Bassett 15x8, BFGoodrich 275/60, 9C1 speedo)
2011 9C3 (K&N CAI, Weldcraft widened 18x9 factory steelies, Bridgestone 285/35)
HoldOn SV

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by HoldOn SV »

I'm having the same issue with intermittant click/no crank (2013 9C3 50K miles). I plan to refresh all the pertinent grounds later this fall (when time permits) and have the starter tested (AGM battery tests good). If you clean the grounds and have the starter tested, I'd appreciate an update here as well. Cheers, and Thanks for the post.
Sanford
Posts: 356
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:38 pm
Location: Texas Gulf Coast

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by Sanford »

I have had several cars that just have a loud click at the starter every so often. They were cars that were just bought at auction and had been sitting for a while. I found that if they were driven daily with some starts and stops, the problem would go away. The internal contacts can oxidize from a lack of use. Back in the mid 90’s, they had problems with connection at the solenoid to motor lead connect on their new GR starter. They did not self heal, they only got worse.
CombatWombat
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2021 9:23 pm

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by CombatWombat »

GammaFlat wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:14 am Many electrical problems are solved by fixing/improving grounds.
And the key to what follows. Like many of you I began experiencing the intermittent start issue several weeks ago. 2011 9C1 with the L77. I finally had time to tear into it a few days ago. I had already ruled out a problem with the neutral safety switch since the only time the "click" happened was when trying to start in park or neutral. No associated noise when trying to start in any of the gears. Getting under the car to check continuity at the solenoid was not successful since the proximity of the catalytic converter made getting a probe to the terminals impossible.

So back to the trunk to disconnect the batteries so I could pull the starter and solenoid. Removed the bolts and wiring and put the starter in the vise, hit it with the jump box and no issues there so I was starting to suspect the solenoid was bad. There was a very small amount of corrosion on the 12 volt lead stud which I cleaned along with the cable.

But when I pulled the starter, the bolts holding it to the block had a film of oil on them. There was also a small amount of oil on the back of the engine but of an undetermined source. Maybe a small rear main leak. But nothing worrying. So I cleaned the bolts, shot some brake cleaner up into the threads in the block and bolted it back together. Hooked the batteries back up and it's been starting every time since. We know that motor oil isn't a great conductor of electricity so in the absence of an obvious smoking gun all I can say is that for the small amount of effort needed to drop the starter, clean the terminal and cable and clean up any oil you find on the mounting bolts I'm pretty happy.

The starter was not the original so I'm speculating that this problem had occurred previously when the car was in service and the mechanic had swapped starters, cleaned everything up and got it back on the road. I'm planning on digging out a braided ground strap the next time I change oil and installing it between one of the starter mounting bolts and the subframe or body just to hedge my bets. I know there's no guarantee that this is what's happening to everyone else's car or even if it's the real reason that it fixed mine, but I hope this is useful to some of you.
Fandango
Posts: 67
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:31 am

Re: 2011 9C3 ignition acting up

Post by Fandango »

I have had the same issue intermittently since I purchased my car. It has been more common lately, and I have been able to get the car started by fiddling with the shifter. I had thought about a bad neutral safety switch, and was able to get the car started in neutral the other day with no issue. This morning neutral didn't work, but by moving the shifter slightly in the park detent, it started up.

Looking at parts that may be the issue, would this be a culprit?

https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-parts ... r-24258550
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