GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hi all,

I have an 03 base 200k, the other night had some starting issues... came on quick and was intermittent no-crank. Of course it was the zero degree day so I replaced the 4 year old battery, still no love. Intermittent cranking.

Replaced the starter with a reman... It's only been a day, so I'm not sure if its intermittent or non-existant, but I haven't gotten a crank yet with the key. What I've found is this:

I get 12v to the s terminal and it sounds like it pops the gear out. However, it doesn't spin the motor. If I jumper the 2 posts (12v battery to motor side) with a screwdriver while someone has the key turned, then it cranks and starts. Am I really unlucky enough to have gotten a bum reman? Or could something else be causing this?

Thanks!

Did a few more tests...

1. I used jumper cables from the battery positive and negative to the 12v hot on the solenoid and the starter casing. Same results, click but no crank. I believe this rules out voltage drop or bad connection issues, right?

2. I hooked up a multimeter to the starter side post... The one that should get 12v through the solenoid when the command wire goes to 12v. I have 12v on the positive post of the solenoid, but the starter side post only gets .4v when the command wire goes hot during start.

3. I tested the starter that was removed from the battery. It engages and cranks when appropriate.

These seems at odds, on one hand it seems like the solenoid is bad... but on the other, the solenoid I removed (which exhibited the same click but no crank symptoms works fine on the garage floor.

Running out of ideas here...

What if it's just a poor connection to the solenoid or something? Or the other one has a bad motor but not solenoid?