Wouldn't Start, Now Won't Turn Over! FIXED!!

[robb]

While I was deployled my wife'e 04 Vibe with automatic trans stopped working. One morning it would turn over slowly but not start, until the battery died. She took the battery out and took it to autozone, they checked it, and sold her a new one. A friend of hers put the new battery in and after that the car would not even turn over. They tried replacing the 100A fuse under the hood as they thought it looked blown I was told. With no results. It has sat for months and I just got home yesterday (Yay). I looked at it today and when you try to start it just makes a small click inside the passenger side dashboard, thats it. I checked the battery, it appears to be charged up. The headlights come on brightly. When i turn the key to on the guage needles illuminate and jump up and down a couple times then settle and the dashlights come on. I checked voltage at the starter, there is voltage. I jumped across the positive and negative terminals on the starter solenoid thinking it would engage the starter and it just spins the solenoid. I turned the crank to ensure the engine isn't seized. It turns. I tried banging on the starter while my wife attempted to start the car, no difference. I tried pulling the 100A fuse to look at what they had replaced and managed to crush that. So troubleshooting is paused until I replace that and find some way to get those little bits of metal out of there. In the meantime does anyone have any other ideas? Could the starter relay do this? The starter itself perhaps? Thanks for any assistance.After thinking about it I think what I did was go across the positive and negative terminals on the starter solenoid and the whirring was the starter spinning freely since I had not engaged the solenoid? Does that sound more accurate? Hopefully that clears things up a little more as to what I did.--Robb

[cq358]

Please correct me if I am wrongCurrent symptoms :1. Car can turn over2. Battery is brand new just replace ( did your wife replace since last week?)3. 100A fuse has been replace is it the IG-1 fuse? (what is the reason for replacing the "100A" fuse)?4. temperature in your area is from 8C to 24C Do you have remote start/alarm/immobilizer?Based on your description, the car indeed can turn over?To make the car start, you need spark (electricity), fuel and airif you turn the key back to off and then ignition on.. can you hear if the fuel pump is working ( remove the lower rear seat cushion)?If you have a hand held diagnostic device, is your fuel pressure around 80psi?

[robb]

No, the car does not turn over.The battery is new.The 100A fuse is labeled as ALT under the hood and was replaced because it had melted I was told.I have yet to check the fuel pump, but if it is not turning over that can not be the issue.The temperature here is 20-24 degrees CNo remote start or alarm.Hope this helps. Thanks.

[cq358]

If the terminals at the battery and the starters are fully fasten and you have tested the battery with voltage around 12.5-12.8 v then i think somewhere at the starter is at fault.

[robb]

I agree. Since I was able to get the starter to spin by jumping the wires (i think that is what it was) it is whatever tells the starter to operate. That is why I was asking if the starter relay could cause this, or what else could it be?Additionally I find it peculiar that the car was able to turn over until they installed the new battery. I dont know if that could have caused this problem.

[cq358]

It seems replacing a new battery + replacing the ALT fuse is actually making it worst, the car is not even turn over..Based on your story, at the very beginning the car can crank over at the first attempt with have weak battery with the starter giving a typical weak battery symptom with just "tick tick tick.." It seems the symptoms is kind of out of ordinary, I would cover all the basic possibilities before moving on and overhaul the starter.It kinda strange why they replace the fuse without even fixing the problem at all.. I don't think a fuse is like an consumable item and we have no proof it was really fry or not. or they just doing something willy Nelly.. According to 2004 owner's menu, it state there are 2 fuses for charging, One is the big 100A (ALT) and the other one is the smaller size ALTS fuese ( 15A -20A idunno) Make sure both are in good conditionsAlso, I will just go thru the wiring and connector one by one just in case they accidentally "forgot" to tighten it before proceeding furtherToyota has made the starter quite reliable from 1996+ Corolla/Martrix, we rarely see people changing starter with a newer gen corolla.matrix.vibe. However I see many people replacing their alternatorIf you cover all the basic ground then you should proceed to rebuilding the starter.

[joatmon]

low batterry + blown 100A ALT fuse + odd electrical issues = Are you sure that while you were out of town, somebody didn't try to jump start it and accidentally cross the cables (and are afraid to admit it )?

[robb]

Ok, I got the 100A fuse replaced. They replaced it before because they told me it was melted. I wanted to pull it just to look at it since I knew they had fiddled with it when I accidentally broke it. It is possible someone reversed the cables while attempting to jump it I suppose. What would that cause? I still dont understand, from what I was told, the car would turn over until the new battery was installed. So I am back at listening to the click behind the passenger side dashboard. It is not the click from the solenoid associated with a low battery.

[joatmon]

I mentioned a backwards jump start attempt because that is one of the few causes reported here of blowing the 100A ALT fuse. Other fuses may also be blown. so you might want to check to see if anything else electrical is not behaving. If it was reverse jumped, it is possible that it damaged either the starter relay or the starter solenoid. The starter relay is on top of the under dash fuse block, probably easiest to get to by pulling out the vent/mirror control trim piece.Here's a PDF of a starter/starter relay test procedure for a Matrix, should apply to an 04 Vibe

528008=15835-inspec40.pdf

[Water boy]

Just to add to the confusion......Generally, if the stater will spin but not engage the flywheel the gear is not being thrown into the ring gear. Could be mechanical inside the starter.You could take off the stater and walk down to the local AutoZone for a free starter test.You could take off the stater and jumper the connections as per the drawing and see what is going on up close. Remember, the starter will jump wildly because of the torque when engaged so do with caution.

[Vibe_dude]

I had almost the same prob.......the starter was FUBAR.had to get a new one.......works great now.

[robb]

I went through the fuses and found that there was also a blown 15A EFI fuse and 15A Dome fuse under the hood as well as the 15A AM2 fuse under the dash. After replacing them all the car cranked right up! Excellent. I think it was the 15A EFI which was causing the problem. I suspect somebody either jumped it backwards or connected the battery backwards while I was gone. Regardless, Thank you all for the assistance.

[star_deceiver]

Glad to hear it was an easy fix!

[BrettZ]

Good to hear you got it worked out joatmon mentioned jump starting aand crossing the cables, also reverse jump starting. Are they the same thing? and What do they mean?

[cq358]

http://www.aa1car.com/library/car_wont_start.htmA good read about no start symptoms

[NateStraight]

Sorry to res the thread.

I have the same problems and cause described above: Nothing in dash, blown ALT, AM2, EFI, DOME fuses; resulting from reverse jump.

However, upon replacing these, I still cannot get the car to start. I can jump across to the starter direct from battery and start, so I thought relay... nope, replaced starter relay and still nothing.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

[joatmon]

Now that you have replaced all the fuses that you know are blown, try everything electrical. Other than the starter, is there anything else electrical that doesn't work anymore? Sometimes, seemingly unrelated system failures can be traced back to a common cause.

[nbourre]

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I actually have the same problem with my 2004 vibe.

I drove to walmart did a few purchase. Came back to start the car, the radio was on and all accessories and then nothing. And everything shut down, no more radio, no tick-tick sound, nada...

My brother came by to jump start the car. As soon as the battery connected, all accessories came back to life. But as soon as I try to start, *bam* everything shuts down again. The jumper cables were not reversed while jumping.

So reading the post, I should check all the fuse and test my starter?

[Chiadog]

You may want to start a new thread! This one says "fixed", so it may not get much attention.
As for your Vibe, sounds like a bad battery - remove the battery and have it tested.
Lights may have gone out during start attempt while jumping because of crappy jumper cables or a bad connection. start with the battery test.

[Salsa Guy]

X2 check the battery and cables first.

[MEETSE]

Sorry to cut in on a post, but one day at work my 2004 PVibe would not start. I waited after work and it started on first try. Ever since it has been sitting in my drive while I try to resolve this issue.

1. Replaced battery and vehicle immediately started. The nest day:
> had all power but would not make a sound!
> replaced positive cable-head, would not make a sound!
> checked alll fuses, would not make a sound!
2. Try not to incur any towing charges, Any Ideas????????????????????????

SFC Harris

[Chiadog]

You will get more help by starting a new thread. Include your Vibes year and mileage on the vehicle. But my first guess is the starter.

[lannvouivre]

You will get more help by starting a new thread. Include your Vibes year and mileage on the vehicle. But my first guess is the starter.

Yes! Take a hammer and whack the motor part of the starter a few times, then try and start the car. If it starts after you hit it, it means the starter has dead spots in its windings and you need to order a new one immediately, because it will be completely dead in two or three days.

Now, if when you try to start, the voltage inside the car is dropping (all the lights dim or go out, including your gauges except for the battery and check engine lightso that the starter gets enough voltage), then it's almost certainly the starter anyway, because you're getting a huge voltage drop and it's gotta be going somewhere. If the lights stay on without dimming, then voltage probably isn't managing to get to the starter.