Car won't start.....help please asap

[Malibu_Newbie]

Ok so I have not been on in awhile. Car has been running great until right now. The problem is it won't start. No noise, no er sound, no flashing theft light (disabled a year ago). About 2 or so weeks ago the battery went dead. Hooked a speed charger to it charged and it ran fine for a few weeks. Then last week it went dead again. So I figured new battery and was just waiting on payday to get here. Then yesterday I figured why not just hook the charger to it and see if I can get a full charge and it did. But I went to crank the car and nothing. No noise (minus hearing the fuel pump kick in) but thats it. No crank noises or anything.

I did a search here and someone said that could be a sign of a bad starter and I so did not want to hear that. So does it sound like a bad starter or something else.

PS I did the 11 mins on ACC thing for a total of 33 mins and still nothing. I am at my wits end.

[Malibu_Newbie]

Just in case anyone was wondering this its a 98 Malibu LS V6.

Well put a new battery in today. Still nothing. All the lights and what not come on but nothing starts as far as the car goes. We went to the dealership to talk to them about this. They said we need to brng the car in because its now in fail mode. So now we have to put a toggle switch on to re-engage the anti-theft. See if that fixes the issue. If not it gets towed into town (god knows for what price) and have the BCM reprogramed to get it out of fail mode. That will cost $70 and I am not happy about this.

[priscella]

As you wrote about your problem back in January- I can assume you had it fixed. Was it the fuel pump? Right now my 2005 Malibu
Max will crank but not turn over and as far as my mechanic can tell--there's spark but no fuel coming through. He has ordered a Fuel Pump which won't be in til tomorrow but it costs a pretty penny so I'm sure hoping that's the real problem. So was yours a problem with the fuel pump. I hear also that it may not be the fuel pump, but simply clogged strainers above and below it. How's your Malibu working now?

[Malibu_Newbie]

I have never (knock on wood) had a problem with my fuel pump. When it first acted up it was the passlock. You can tell if its that because the the Anti-Theft light will blink until it unsets itself. We fixed that by cuting the wire that runs to that. The issue now is the battery died and another sercurity feature flipped on and now my car is stuck in fail mode. To fix that I have to take it into a shop (tow) or dealership to get something re-programmed so it will work again. When I go to crank it now I get no sound, no turn over sounds. From my understanding this is because this sercurity feature kills power to my starter.

[YJKing95]

Outa dumb currisoty did u put your key in the door with the door shut and lock and unlock the drivers side door. sometimes that will reset any security lock on GM cars, sometimes it works and sometimes it dosent work. but its worth a shot to try that. after you locked and unlock try to start it. if it still does the same thing the BCM may need to re programed that u were told before.

[Malibu_Newbie]

I will give that a ry I had never heard of that. So I get in close the door. Lock and unlock the door and try to start the car?

[Malibu_Newbie]

Originally Posted by YJKing95

Outa dumb currisoty did u put your key in the door with the door shut and lock and unlock the drivers side door. sometimes that will reset any security lock on GM cars, sometimes it works and sometimes it dosent work. but its worth a shot to try that. after you locked and unlock try to start it. if it still does the same thing the BCM may need to re programed that u were told before.

Just reread this and tried it and nothing happened.

[YJKing95]

like i said sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt, GM has some wierd security lock on cars sometimes where u lock and unlock the D/S door and it will dissable the security lock system.

[Malibu_Newbie]

This is probably a silly question is there a fuse or someting that goes to the BCM (which I assume thats what will be reprogrammed no one seems to want to say what will be reprogrammed just that it needs to be). Also where is the BCM. One more could it be the PCM that needs to be reprogrammed.

[priscella]

Well---they put a new fuel pump in--yesterday---over $1000---and guess what happened today---the exact same thing as Monday---- my car would not go again and had to be towed back to the garage again ----and they say the fuel pump (new from the dealer -put in yesterday) is gone Again!!!! Was there some electronic thing that had to be done to reset things----- Help!

[Malibu_Newbie]

I figured I would update on this issue. The problem ended up being my starter. We ended up taking the starter apart and something inside of it broke. I believe it was the brushes. Good news is we did not have to replace the whole starter. Basically we rebuilt it by replacing the whole bottom piece that the brushes are on. Since then it has been running great well minus a batch of bad gas. But we got that straighten out so now all is well.

[16th hippy]

@Newbie: to answer your questions about the BCM whereabouts, it is under the dash. a little black box with about 6-8 connectors going into it. The BCM has the security stuff in it. it sees key is good, tells PCM(under hood) is ok to send start signal to starter, and there ya go...starts....unless there is a problem. if starter is good, 3 main things go wrong with the passlock that i have seen. ignition lock cylinder(has passlock exciter in it), BCM fries, or the wires running from the lock cylinder to the BCM. glad you got it working though!

[johnholl]

If the engine wouldn't turn over [crank]


Why would a mechanic worth his salt replace a fuel pump in a NO CRANK situation?

AND!! Why haven't you gone back and asked for your money back on the parts for at least the labor on the pump

[slls]

Originally Posted by johnholl

If the engine wouldn't turn over [crank]


Why would a mechanic worth his salt replace a fuel pump in a NO CRANK situation?

AND!! Why haven't you gone back and asked for your money back on the parts for at least the labor on the pump

The post reads will crank but not turn over, the no turn over is no start.
The lay people have trouble giving the proper wording.