# Car won't turn over



## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

2012 Cruze LT with automatic transmission, 1.4 L Turbo engine. Was parked in the driveway 2 days ago, and this morning when trying to start it, there was no click or anything and the starter would not turn the engine over. All the lights come on on the dash and the radio comes on. I disconnected the battery (2 years old) and cleaned the terminals. Performed a load test on it and it tested good. Recharged it and hooked it back up. Ran a wire from the S terminal on the starter solenoid and touched it to the positive terminal on the battery and the starter cranks the engine properly. Replaced the exhaust camshaft position sensor as I read somewhere in my research that sometimes causes a problem. Tried starting it in neutral and park after jiggling the shift leaver around. Still no start. Appears the computer is not allowing it to start because of some problem somewhere. No error codes are stored in the system. My guess is some sensor is sending bad info to the computer and the computer doesn't allow it to start. Swapped the relays around to see if I had a bad relay and checked all the fuses. Still no start. Any help would be appreciated as we live out in the country and can't even get it started to take it to a dealer.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

If your load tester is one of them 50 ampers. They're only good for a 100 cca battery. 

You need a machine that pulls down 1/2 the cca rating of the battery.

The starter pulls 100 amps.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

You covered a lot of ground. About the only thing you didn't do was check the key switch. Perhaps it's not sending the command to the computer. I think an LT would have the remote start feature, you could try that.

I know you replaced it, but you could also try unplugging the exhaust camshaft sensor, just to see if it changes anything.

What happens is the sensor fails in such a way that it fools the ECM into thinking the engine is already running. As a result, it refuses to act on a start command. From what I understand, the exhaust camshaft sensor isn't the only one it uses to determine the engine's state - but I don't know what else it uses. You could try unplugging the other position sensors just to see. When you find one that allows the engine to crank, you know you're on to something.


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## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

ChevyGuy said:


> About the only thing you didn't do was check the key switch. Perhaps it's not sending the command to the computer. I think an LT would have the remote start feature, you could try that.
> 
> I know you replaced it, but you could also try unplugging the exhaust camshaft sensor, just to see if it changes anything.
> 
> What happens is the sensor fails in such a way that it fools the ECM into thinking the engine is already running. As a result, it refuses to act on a start command. From what I understand, the exhaust camshaft sensor isn't the only one it uses to determine the engine's state - but I don't know what else it uses. You could try unplugging the other position sensors just to see. When you find one that allows the engine to crank, you know you're on to something.


And how would I go about checking the key switch? I did try the remote start feature and it doesn't work either, although it did a week ago. And I did try starting the car with the exhaust cam position sensor unplugged. And it still wouldn't start. It doesn't even click the starter solenoid. Which I know works by jumping the S terminal to the battery positive terminal. And the starter cranks just like it is supposed to. Ok, thanks for the suggestions about unplugging the other position sensors. I will start with the crank speed sensor. I also thought about the switches to make sure the shifter is either in park or neutral, but I haven't found them yet.


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## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

snowwy66 said:


> If your load tester is one of them 50 ampers. They're only good for a 100 cca battery.
> 
> You need a machine that pulls down 1/2 the cca rating of the battery.
> 
> The starter pulls 100 amps.


So, if I try jump starting it off one of those really huge batteries on one of my 300 Hp diesel tractors it will start?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

If the starter is cranking the engine when jumped, and the solenoid isn't even clicking when you try normally, I wouldn't worry about the battery. 

I'm not sure how to check the switch, but given that it won't remote start either, that's not high on my list of guesses. 

You might try picking up a code reader and see what it can tell you.


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## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

I have a code reader and it is not throwing any codes, like all my other antique cars seem to. That was the first thing I tried and was surprised to not have any codes. Which probably means another sensor is not giving a correct reading? We have another unexpected possibility here. On my Envoy I read a code for a sensor and opened the hood to look for that sensor only to discover that the squirrels had bitten off the wires to it. So, I am looking for squirrel damage under the Cruze now on the wiring.


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## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

I am back to work on this non-starting Cruze problem again, after fixing my GMC Envoy. It was throwing a code that indicated a massive leak in the gas vapor tube from the gas tank. And the solution may be a hint as to what is wrong with the Cruze. I discovered that the squirrels had chewed a big hole in a wire bundle and chewed off a couple of wires. Repairing the wires and taping them up good eliminated the error code I was reading off the Envoy. So now I am looking for chewed holes in the Cruze wiring. I discovered a chewed through hole in a wire bundle overtop the rear axle on the passenger side that looks like a cut off wire that is brown. Does anybody have a wiring diagram that shows what a brown wire near the gas tank is for? And could it be the problem for me?


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Does the key itself need a good battery for it to be recognized?


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## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

Good question. But since it is just a regular key to start the car, I would assume that the battery in the key has no function except to remote start the car or to remote lock or unlock the doors?


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

DonMountain said:


> Good question. But since it is just a regular key to start the car, I would assume that the battery in the key has no function except to remote start the car or to remote lock or unlock the doors?


If it was a regular key, you could have a copy that starts the car made for a few dollars. Mine needs a chip. I just wasn't sure if the chip needed a battery or not.:huh:


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## DonMountain (May 24, 2019)

Well, after a careful look at all the wiring on the bottom of the car, I discovered that squirrels had chewed off a bundle of wires under the engine compartment. And sure enough, when I spliced in new wires the car started and ran just fine. For some reason the squirrels seem to like to chew on all of those plastic shrouds that General Motors have been putting around all the wiring bundles to protect them. But they seem to be very attractive to all of the squirrels. So, if you discover a random electrical problem on your car, take a look at all of your wiring.


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