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My turn: no start

E

echostatic

Turbooo
Turning the key to start the car results in no cranking at all. I know the starter is good because I have been able to get it to start a few times by turning it back to accessory, and turning it to crank from there. (of course the last 100+ times I've turned it hasn't worked...) It sounds like a bad lock cylinder to me...
 
The ignition switch is located on the steering colmn down toward the firewall and is actuated by a rod from the lock cylinder. then there is the theft contol module and relay in the drivers kick panel, and the neutral position switch in the console, then the solinoid on the starter. Any of these items could be the problem.

I would start by looking at the ign switch on the column. If this switch is loose the rod will not consistently position the switch to the start position. look at section 3f1 of the service manual (not the TTA suppliment).

post up if you want more detail

HTH

Glenn
 
My car is dealing with the SAME thing right now. It has caused me not to drive it for the last 6 months. Really bums me out. I dont have the equipment to check the electric, and am waiting for the time to take it to the dealership ---
 
I looked at it a bit last night, I think I found that rod. It wasn't connected to anything on one end. Hope to have it fixed soon.
 
Your best bet is to either find someone familiar with Grand Nationals (that you trust) or just learn on this site and the GN sites and do stuff yourself. I am somewhere between the two depending on the scope of the job and the time I have in any given week/month.

I would not take it to a dealership as they will definitely overcharge you and likely still not fix your car correctly.
 
Another option is find a Dealership that was a Pontiac Dealership until recently and has been since the late 80's. Alot of the times, there is at least one mechanic that has been around long enough to work on these cars.

I had this problem recently with my TTA. I took it to a close friend who also happens to be a certified GM Mechanic and he had it diagnoised in about 10 minutes. I had to purchase a new ignition swith. ( The Passkey, chip in the key had gone bad ) and apparently according to him was extremely common in all the cars with that style of key. The local Pontiac Dealer ( at the time ) even had the switch in stock. The bad part was I had to replace the ignition keys I had. But all is great now.
 
I haven't done much on it due to the cold and feeling ill, but I got the steering wheel off and pulled the locking plate. There's still some more crap to pull off.

I'm guessing the only place to get a replacement rod is a pontiac dealership.
 
When I had a similar problem it did turn out to be the starter and solenoid.
If the brushes are really worn down, it'll sometimes start sometimes not.
 
The starter isn't getting any power to it. It would start if you turned the key enough, usually several dozen times. I think the rod was twisting, but eventually would turn enough to start it. And then it snapped and won't start anymore. The rod doesn't move at all when you turn the key now.
 
Ok, upon further disassembly, we discovered that rob actually goes to the dimmer switch. My problem is one of two tiny wires going to the security device. It's broken. I imagine that's going to be cheaper/easier than trying to get one of those rods.

Of course that discovery came right when my Grand Prix sprung a big tranny leak. I wonder which one can be fixed first...
 
Yes... o.0 I can't be the only one who says tranny for short.

Which upon closer inspection (getting closer and looking under the car) turned out to just be an antifreeze leak from a loose hose.

Anyway a trip to autozone provided heat shrink tubing and some new headlights, because mine are just dim and one of the brights doesn't work. We have the stuff for soldering... All in all, I would say this has gone better than anticipated. Which, is rare.
 
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