Cutlass Ciera won't start

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vickilou52
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Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:46 am

Cutlass Ciera won't start

Unread post by vickilou52 » Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:53 am

My son recently took out the old cassette player out of his 1996 Sierra Oldsmobile and put in a CD player. Now the car won't start and the emergency brake light comes on also the brake pedal is hard to push down on car just won't start. Was working okay until he put the CD player in. Any ideas please?

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carriedi
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Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:42 pm

Re: car won't start

Unread post by carriedi » Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:36 pm

how did he wire up the new radio? did he use a wiring diagram for the car or did he just look for wires that seemed to match up for power and grounds? Hopefully he purchased the stereo wire harness adapter that was made to fit the new stereo to the original factory wire harness connector. If not he may have tied in to wires that appear to be ground circuits but become live when you turn the car on.

Unplug the new stereo and see if the car starts. Make sure and check all the fuses.

I had a person that installed a radio in a Honda Accord and tied his ground wire to what he found as a grounded circuit. Problem was that the circuit was the parking light circuit and the ground he found was because the lights were off. When he turned the lights on the power from the parking light went right to the radio ground. Blew the fuse. So he put in a bigger fuse. Burned up the headlight switch and smoked the wiring from the switch all along under the dash pad then to the parking lights. The wire melted into other wires in the loom. Took hours to separate the wires and insulate and replace all the wiring.
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vickilou52
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Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:46 am

Re: car won't start

Unread post by vickilou52 » Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:25 pm

The car is okay now thanks for the reply. Took off cables of battery to reset computer. He ran the battery down after putting cables back on, II gave him a jump and started right up problem solved,

CurtJ
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Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 1:12 pm

Re: car won't start

Unread post by CurtJ » Sat Jun 06, 2015 1:56 pm

I have a 1996 Cutlass Ciera won't start periodically, one time may only turn over but not start next may not do anything when I turn the key, then next time start like a champ. I need help!

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carriedi
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Re: car won't start

Unread post by carriedi » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:11 am

because of the different symptoms you would have to do some checking.

when it won't turn over you will have to see if you are getting power to the starter solenoid. The wire coming out of the ignition switch for the starter is a yellow wire. the yellow wire goes from the ignition switch to the neutral safety switch on the trans. When the trans switch is in park or neutral power goes through the switch and comes out as a purple wire that goes to the starter solenoid. If you hold the key in the start position and the trans is in park, the yellow and purple wire should have battery power. If the yellow wire has power but the purple does not the neutral switch is a problem. If the yellow wire has no power make sure the red wires to the ignition switch have power. If the red wires have battery power then the ignition switch is a problem. If the yellow and the purple wire both power up then the starter is a problem.

CAUTION: when checking the yellow and purple wires for power when the key is in the start position and the engine isn't turning over, don't put any parts of your body near the engine because it may start cranking over at any time. Don't want you to get hurt if that happens. BE SAFE. use test leads that you can attach and be out of the danger areas.

Make sure you have good grounds at the battery, frame and engine.

When the engine cranks but won't start it's a whole other problem. (well, maybe) Do you have the 2.2L or the 3.1L?

When an engine crank over but doesn't start you have to check for spark, fuel pressure and injector pulse. each one of those three have different diagnostic trees to follow.
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CurtJ
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Re: car won't start

Unread post by CurtJ » Thu Jun 11, 2015 9:03 pm

I found the problem on the no crank issue. It was the Pass Key. I used a resister on that and it cranks over every time I try it, but still won't start. It is the 3.1 motor

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carriedi
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Re: car won't start

Unread post by carriedi » Fri Jun 12, 2015 10:14 am

check to see if you have injector pulse. the passlock may have the injectors turned off.
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CurtJ
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Re: car won't start

Unread post by CurtJ » Sat Jun 13, 2015 9:36 am

Ok how do I know that for sure? Also how do I know if I have power to the ignition coil, and if the CPS is working right

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carriedi
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Re: car won't start

Unread post by carriedi » Sat Jun 13, 2015 10:35 am

the easiest way to check for spark is to pull a spark plug wire off the coil. Pull a spark plug wire off the coil before you start the engine. Place the boot back on the coil but don't press it all the way down until it clicks on. This way when you start the engine you can lift the wire slowly off the coil watching for the spark to jump to the wire. You don't want to get your hand close to the coil electrode or you could get shocked. hold the wire a ways back and only lift so you can either hear or see the spark jump then put the wire back on the coil. If you have spark you have CKP (crank position sensor) signal.

If you have spark then you check for fuel pressure and injector pulse. You check injector pulse at the injector harness connector at the injector. Unplug one of the injectors and use a yest light that goes from one wire to the other wire in the harness connector. When cranking the engine the test light should flash when the computer tells the injector to fire. If it does flash you should measure your fuel pressure. You will need a gauge. You can't just push on the valve and say you have pressure. You have to measure how much pressure you have. Spec. is 41-47 psi.

if you have no spark, ignition module, CRK sensor, power to the module would have to be checked. If you have no injector pulse it could be the computer, power or the passlock. If you have no fuel pressure it could be power, computer, relay or fuel pump. Or other things... It gets complicated sometimes.
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