2005 Base, Won't Start

[beermoney]

So I go out this morning to start the car and go into town to run my mother around so she can get some errands taken care of, as she no longer drives. Put the key in and turn it over, and nothing! Just a very faint click......barely can hear it. OK, so it makes me think the Battery is dead. Which I thought would be weird, as I didn't leave any lights or anything on. I also drove the car late last night home from a local pro hockey playoff game. It started fine in the parking lot and was fine all the way home, which is about 30 mins. But, it will not fire up this morning. Of course, my dad has the jumper pack and jumper cables, as he had battery issues a couple of months ago. So, I put the battery charger on it, as its the only thing that I got. After about 10 mins of charging at 10amps, I gave it a try. All it does is make a machine gun type of rapid clicking while the dash lights flutter on and off at a high rate of speed. I pulled the positive cable off, as it had a bunch of corrosion on the bottom side of the cable, it had been cleaned and had a protective spray put on it, while getting a oil changed last summer. So, I cleaned the cable off, and put it back on. Tried starting it without the charger on it, nothing. Again, its just a faint rapid clicking sound. I throw the battery charger back on it again.......and give it a try after about 5 mins, just get the rapid machine gun type clicking again and thats it.

Does it sound like the battery has just crapped out or has the starter taken a dump? It has a AC Delco battery in it, is that what they come from the factory with? I have never changed the battery on it, I bought the Vibe 5 and half years ago, with 29,000 miles on it. Its got 115,000 miles on it now.

I am going to try and jump start it when my dad gets home tonight and see if it will fire up.

[Rayven01]

If the lights flicker I doubt it's the starter. Usually with starter issues everything else electronic will work fine. Sounds like a battery issue to me. Not sure what Vibes had for factory batteries, but AC Delco is possible.. that's what most GMs have. If so and the battery lasted 8-9 years.. put the poor thing to rest it's done its duty!

[trb]

If it was dead, and now is clicking after being on the charger, then it is most likely the battery that finally died if you did not have any battery lights showing from a bad alternator. Jump starting it should at least get it going, but it sounds like a new battery is in your future.

[beermoney]

No the battery light never came on. At first try this morning, it was just a real faint clicking. Once I put the battery charger on it, then the clicking would be really loud and would sound like a rapid fire machine gun. The dash lights would flash on and off really fast at the same time and the speedometer needle would bounce back and fourth between like 0 & 5 mph really fast. But, that's all it will do. With out the battery charger on it, it pretty much almost does nothing......just a real faint click.

So, I will try jump starting it and see what happens. If it fires, then I will head to town and get a new battery. When I had some work done on it last summer, they said that battery wasn't the strongest. I just blew it off as it seemed fine to me, I hadn't noticed anything different when starting it. During the winter though, there was times when it would turn over real, real slow.....and a few times I didn't think it would fire, but it did. So, it probably is a very good chance that it finally died. Just seems weird to me, that it just all of a sudden happened after starting just fine last night. Hopefully its just the battery, as that is the easiest thing to fix

[beermoney]

It was the battery. Once my dad got home I was able to jump start it without any problems. After we took the jumper cables off, it started running really rough and the dash lights started fluttering. So, I went to Walmart and got a new Everlast Maxx battery and put in it. It popped right off and was running nice and smooth and the dash lights were nice and bright.

I am planning to get the struts and shocks changed this upcoming weekend. So, I think I will have them test the alternator as well while they have it just to make sure there is no issues with it. I will be driving it all week before it gets taken in, so if its the alternator, I am sure I will find out

[Rayven01]

So, I think I will have them test the alternator as well while they have it just to make sure there is no issues with it. I will be driving it all week before it gets taken in, so if its the alternator, I am sure I will find out

Good call, better safe than sorry. Bad alternator could have killed the battery or bad battery could have killed the alternator, but hopefully it's all right.

[beermoney]

No issues starting it this morning while leaving for work. It fired right up. But, its running really rough at idle. As in, it wants to die. It seems to be idling at about 600rpm, instead of 800rpm where it normally ides at. So, I had to drive with 2 feet all the way to work. Once you give it a little gas and get it back up to 800rpm, it smooths out and is fine. Once you take your foot off the gas, it drops down to 600rpm and starts running really rough.

If I remember correctly, it did this same thing right after I had the PCM recall taken care of last year. For a few days after having that done, it was running really rough and idling around 600rpm. After a few days it worked out whatever its issue was, and was running fine again, and idling at 800rpms. Wondering if it is a matter of the computer resetting itself?

I think when it was doing that back then, I would just turn the fan on which would make the RPMs kick up a little bit and I wouldn't have to drive with 2 feet. But, I didn't think of that until a few mins ago, after I got to work. So, I will try that when I leave for lunch.

[Rayven01]

Wondering if it is a matter of the computer resetting itself?

That's exactly what it is. It'll re-learn soon enough.

[ehoff121]

Definitely sounds like 1) old battery was beyond its useful life and 2) computer has to re-learn optimal settings, since it was without power for so long.

Re: rough idle- have you changed the air filter, cleaned the throttle body, and sprayed the MAF sensor recently? If not, those may help with rough idle.

[beermoney]

Definitely sounds like 1) old battery was beyond its useful life and 2) computer has to re-learn optimal settings, since it was without power for so long.

Re: rough idle- have you changed the air filter, cleaned the throttle body, and sprayed the MAF sensor recently? If not, those may help with rough idle.

It was without power for less then 24 hours. As for the rough idle, that just started after I got the car restarted. It was perfectly fine Saturday night when I drove it. So, I think that it has to do with the computer re-learning everything. As for the filter, I have a K&N Air Filter, it still looks clean. I haven't cleaned the throttle body or sprayed the MAF sensor (ever). Those are things that I planned on doing this summer (using the DIY topics made by members), along with finally getting the spark plugs changed (I had planned to do last summer, but never got to it).

[Rayven01]

It was without power for less then 24 hours.

Only takes at most 10 minutes with the battery dead or disconnected to reset the PCM.

[beermoney]

It was without power for less then 24 hours.

Only takes at most 10 minutes with the battery dead or disconnected to reset the PCM.

Ah, ok....I thought maybe it was like a couple of days.

[ehoff121]

As for the filter, I have a K&N Air Filter, it still looks clean.

The thing with the K&N is that it does not filter as finely as a paper filter- this is the tradeoff for a less restricted airflow. It also needs to be cleaned and re-oiled periodically (they sell kits for this).

I haven't cleaned the throttle body or sprayed the MAF sensor (ever).

When you clean the MAF sensor unit, you'll disconnect the negative terminal on your new battery and it will reset the PCM again. Willing to bet you will see dirty solvent dripping out of the sensor housing when you spray it.

[beermoney]

It also needs to be cleaned and re-oiled periodically (they sell kits for this).

Yea, I have a kit and just "re-charged" it probably a month or so ago.

When you clean the MAF sensor unit, you'll disconnect the negative terminal on your new battery and it will reset the PCM again.

I noticed that today while reading through the MAF DIY. I probably should have just stopped at Autozone on my way home from work and got the cleaner and cleaned it tonight, while PCM is still "re-learning" everything. I didn't click in my head though. I will probably just wait until next month, and then I will clean the MAF, Throttle Body and change the Spark Plugs all at the same time.