sloaner

My 2006 convertible won’t crank when the start button is pushed. Furthermore, prior to pushing the start button, everything works, I.e. the lights come on, the instrument panel lights up, the horn, works, and windows all operate. When the start button is pushed, the instrument panel goes totally blank except for the “engine trouble” Icon remains illuminated. Also all the light etc turn off. The battery is new and I even tried to jump start it in case the new battery was defective. The car did crank and start when the new battery was first installed, and this problem arose about a week later. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

saplumr

Auto or manual

Narddog

Jump again and see if it starts. If so you likely have a parasitic drain going on with the new battery that's giving it enough power for the lights but not enough to turn the engine.

jbripps

Check the solenoid on the starter....that could be the culprit.

Welker1

First thing I'd do is have the new battery load tested to be safe. Beyond that, I agree with Narddog. Had the same exact symptoms you describe in the past, turned out to be a bad battery.

HOXXOH

This has been happening a lot more often as the cars age and the number of start cycles increase. If you can wiggle the battery cable near the starter, you'll know the bakelite is cracked/broken and you need a new solenoid. Most auto electric shops can replace the solenoid for around $30-40, if you remove and replace the starter. More if they do the R&R..Don't waste your money on a whole starter w/solenoid, especially at a dealer.

Be sure to leave as much slack in the battery cable as possible, so the stress doesn't break the solenoid again, since that might be what happened during the recent battery swap.

NBVette_Canada

Just went through this myself. Mine turned out to be a double whammy.... both the battery and the starter.

Ounce

How many labor hours to replace the starter, please?

new 2 me

Same here, thought it might be a bad battery so I bought a new one, that didn’t work. So I go further down the rabbit hole...bad starter, bad solenoid, bad ground or cable, bad multi plug connections behind battery or under passenger floor board, possible alternator cable fault, I think there are several more electrical issues to be looked at that escape me at the moment (fuse panel relays) but I certainly will need to have those checked out as well.
In case I can’t troubleshoot and repair all this stuff who will do it and how much will it cost? I want to get it running so I can replace the wobbling harmonic balancer, leaking radiator, convertible top strain straps, and the traction control/abs system doc warnings before I install the new drilled brake rotors, Vararam, and dyno engine/trans tune. The car is absolutely mint except for the above listed gremlins and yes I do get in it in the driveway and remember the last time I was able to drive it

919cw313

^ Well at least it’s mint other than that.

new 2 me

^^^Exactly, had it six months and I have been able to drive it two weeks

brentsz06

Battery

new 2 me

I had the one year old battery the car came with tested at a battery and starter shop I have been dealing with for forty years, they told me it was good no evidence of a dead cell and they put a load test circuit on it telling me the battery had 85% life left. I use a Deltran battery tender rated 1.25amp charge and .75amp maintainer, the battery “green lights” (full charge) in a reasonable amount of time.
But with a lot of info on how needy C6 electrical systems can be I bought a new Delco 85 series battery, it’s manufacturing build date code pre-dated my purchase by two months so its a fresh battery. Put it on the battery tender overnight it green lighted by morning and I think the dcv was apprx 13.2. Installed it, tried to start it but no dice, dash goes black for 4 seconds before returning to normal. I realize new batteries can be bad so I’m going to jump it with my truck (which doesn’t have a hint of electrical problems), and go from there.
If it starts with the jump then I’ve had two bad batteries one new and one a year old, if it doesn’t start I’m inclined to believe it’s a car problem. Yes the battery posts are clean and the cable terminals too.

mpicki

how do i know if there is any issues with the silonoid?

mpicki

bought a new battery and tried to start and still nothing

Landru

Must get underneath to visually inspect starter/solenoid. Do yourself a favor, use a lift.
With a flashlight locate S/S on pass side, use a pliers to grasp each power line giving 'em a slight tug.
If attaching posts are burned/cracked there'll be much movement of wire/lug, want those connections to be tight & secure.

BEST to disconnect battery, BTW.
IF pliers are accidentally grounded you'll have much bigger & expensive problems to deal with.
Be careful.

Dutch08

I agree with Landru that you need to check the power lines - The plastic on mine shows a lot of heat wear at the starter - I think he's on the right track here. But I have a few questions.

1) Can you put the car in "accessory mode"?
2) Do you hear a "click" from the starter when you try to start it?

BLUE1972

Yea as stated before , a bad battery can kill a starter. When the battery voltage is low the starter draws more power (amps) .

To check most grounds = put on the headlights and try to start the car - if the headlights go out there is an electrical issue, Most likely a ground or power cable. Maybe even a bad battery. If nothing changes it's usually the starter.

If the headlights stay lit - Double check by putting 12volts to the S terminal on the starter and see if it cranks. If not it's bad.