2001 SL2 won't start

[xxctsxx]

I have a 2001 saturn sl2 with approx 155,000 miles on it. On friday I drove from work to the bank and after fifteen minutes came back out to my car which would not start, crank or anything. All the lights came on, radio, etc. Coworker even tried jumping the car but nothing. A few hours later I came back and the car started up right away, then got it home turned it off then right back on and again, nothing. Everything else came on except the car which would not even turn over. Any suggestions? Or any ideas on how much I am looking at for repairs?

[Ruley73]

Originally Posted by xxctsxx

I have a 2001 saturn sl2 with approx 155,000 miles on it. On friday I drove from work to the bank and after fifteen minutes came back out to my car which would not start, crank or anything. All the lights came on, radio, etc. Coworker even tried jumping the car but nothing. A few hours later I came back and the car started up right away, then got it home turned it off then right back on and again, nothing. Everything else came on except the car which would not even turn over. Any suggestions? Or any ideas on how much I am looking at for repairs?

Check the battery and battery cables. Your starter demands more power than all the other stuff combined. This is why all the less power-thirsty stuff works but the starter doesn't when your battery is weak. Also, the starter and the under hood fuse block each have a separate wire going to each from the positive battery terminal.

The fact that you were unable to jump start it strongly suggests that corroded battery cables (one or both) are to blame. It is a common problem on these cars, but can happen on any car.

Another possibility is a starter just starting to fail - what most car guys call "developing a bad spot".

[daslieben]

I have the same car with 154,000 miles on it. The same exact thing happened last week, honestly. Next time it refuses to start, take a very very long screw driver and tap the back of the starter, this can be done from above the car. (You just need to find the starter) It would be ideal with 2 people, one tapping the starter, the other turning the key over. If the car starts you need to replace the starter, which I did myself last Tuesday and the car runs fine. If it isnt the starter, it's only a handful of possibilities, loose battery connections, a bad battery, bad ignition switch, possibly the alternator, or you may have some moisture in the fuel tank. But if it's moisture the car would turn over. It's probably the starter. Note: if you do need to replace the starter, the price is approx. $125.00 before the core charge, and good luck getting the bolt behind the starter it's a pain in the rear end to get out, and back in to put it mildly, but do-able. Hopefully it's just a battery it is December and the cold kills older batteries. Test the battery first, tighten the connections, then go tap the starter. If you take it to a shop to replace the starter I was quoted $350.00 to $500.00 to fix it. I decided to do it myself, there are only 2 botls and 2 nuts but 1 bolt is very very hard to get to

[xxctsxx]

Thanks both of you for the response. I'm going to get out there this weekend and try tapping the starter to see if it does anything...I will let you know how it turns out!