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Cadillac Repair/2001 Cadilac sometimes starts

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Expert: - 4/12/2010


Question
I have problems getting my car to start. Some times it will start  20 times without a hitch, then someday it really is a hassle to get it start. It just clicks. I can get out and mess around with wires and sometimes it will start. The battery has been tested as good. I never know when I go to go, if I am going to be able to go. Very limited income, so difficult to take to dealership.

Answer
Hello,

I tell people, the last place you want to take your car for repair is the dealer. There are many competent garages out there for half the price.


Intermitent problems are har to find and expensive to fix. You could have a bad starte solinoid of if it helps to start it by playing with the wiring,you couls have a loose wire coming from the battery to the starter solimoid.

THe reasons for my thought is your discription that it only clicks when you try to start it.

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Rob Painter

Expertise

Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?

Experience

Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.

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