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paid $375 dollars for it, body is in pretty good shape but it's a no start/no crank. If I can figure out that demon I believe I will have one hell of a deal on my hands. Scouring this place for info!
Start at the easiest to check, the battery!
does it test good , 12.5 volts or more?
if that is the case , can you take it to your local parts palace and have it load tested?
any indication of engine trouble?
Did anyone mention timing chain broken?
Figure these out first! And if you’re gonna jump start it , connect directly to the battery, not the underhood fuse box!
Start at the easiest to check, the battery!
does it test good , 12.5 volts or more?
if that is the case , can you take it to your local parts palace and have it load tested?
any indication of engine trouble?
Did anyone mention timing chain broken?
Figure these out first! And if you’re gonna jump start it , connect directly to the battery, not the underhood fuse box!
Battery is new, I went to auto zone and had it tested to be safe, supposedly it ran and drove fine. Guy mentioned something about hitting the window button and it wouldn't start after that, he may have been a crack head and not really a reliable witness (lol). He also mentioned it being in anti theft mode but the lock isn't on the dash. I am going to go through all the ground points and look for shorts some time today. I figured at $375 I can't lose even if it is something major. I can always steal parts off of it for my other HHR.
Does everything else work electrically (power windows, radio, etc)?
If everything else works but the car doesn't crank, I would follow the crank signal:
1) While key is on start, see if there is a crank signal (+12V) at the starter (the thin wire, not the large wire from the battery which is always hot)
2) If no crank signal at starter, then see if there is a crank signal at starter relay in fuse box
3) If no crank signal at relay input, then computer is not sending a start signal (or open connection between computer and relay)
I had a bad starter relay recently that was intermittent.
I got in to it a bit, i found a lot of corrosion on a wire in the bcm. I marked the wire on the photo, there was a bit more corrosion on it but I wiped some it off. Is this a clue?
You will need to clean all those connections, do that with the battery disconnected to avoid shorts and sparks and frying your ECM and BCM
next up is the underhood fuse box, see post #9
That wire is ign + , all of those red/pink wires are + from various sources. Corrosion would indicate a short to ground somewhere. Probably most of the problem.