I have had an intermittent problem for a couple of weeks now, since the last cold snap. On a 16 degree morning, I tried starting my car and it clicked then nothing. Lights and radio work as normal. Try again and it slow cranks then fires up.
I thought my battery might be week since its now almost 7 years old. So i replaced my battery. Car has been fine for the last 3 days, but the issue returned last night. I drove my car and parked it to pick up my daughter from day care. After the 10 minute stop, the car wouldnt crank. it will click, then nothing. I tried turning the key off then on about 10 times, and then mysteriously the car cranked and fired up as if nothing had happened. Completely normal crank.

Tonight, i couldnt get it to crank no matter what i tried. My neighbor gave me a jump and the car fired up, but the battery was giving weird voltage readings.

at low throttle, It went from 13.5 to 12 to 11 to 10.5, then jumped back to 14.2 then back down to 13.5 and stayed between 13.2 adn 13.5 until I shut the car off after driving around my neighborhood.

Where should I start with troubleshooting this since I have a new battery?
Any help is appreciated.

 

Where were you measuring the battery voltage? Directly off the battery or under the hood?

 

Go to a parts store and ask for an electrical system check. They check the battery, starter and alternator. I am suspecting either the starter or alternator.

A new starter won't turn with much less than 12V. The random voltages don't say much, the regulator is "digital".

 

I agree with Don.

If the system checks out OK, my next guess would be a lose or bad connection.
I'm sure you cleaned the terminals when installing the new battery, so you maybe can rule that out.
I would look at the main battery connection at the underhood fuse box. 2nd would be the starter main battery connection.

 

Battery grounds and the underhood grounds tight and clean?
As stated check the fuses and relays then the fuse box halves are tight.
Sounds simple but how about the starter terminals , clean and tight?

 

Im going to check all grounds and fuse box thus weekend. I recently installed TTR engine mounts so maybe they rattled some connections loose.

 

Ah, then have a look at the ground wire behind the engine on the drivers end of the head .

 

I had a look at the ground wires and so far they all look relatively clean and bolted tight.
I had my battery loadtested at advanced auto and tested good to 689 CCA.
So tonight i did a battery drain test and when first connected i see 1.5 A. After about a minute it drops down to .155 A. Is this normal or is 155mA too much?

 

OK here's something different to check. I had a no crank situation a while back also. It turned out to be either the clutch pedal return spring bushing, or the clutch pedal position sensor, or maybe a combination of both.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/prob...-issues-50825/



Here is how I fixed the bushing problem.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...dal-arm-55769/

We usually ask for year/model/engine/trans/miles. Someone might have suggested this sooner if we had known you have a manual trans. Hope this helps!

 

I worked on the drain test tonight.
I pulled and tested all fuses related to any modifications ive done and the bcm.
I pulled all of the ligth circuits, the radio, the xm/onstar, and the BCM. Only 2 made a difference.
155ma dropped to 145 when I pulled the radio circuit -10ma
155ma dropped to 92ma when I pulled the interior light circuit 63ma
Pulling the BCM fuses actually made the current draw go up.

63ma seems kind of high for a light circuit, but doesnt seem like enough to cause a battery drain.

I was able to get the car started after 2 failed attempts. I jiggled the shifter and stomped the clutch pedal up and down a few times.
The battery was at 12.59V before cranking, after a 20 minute drive, the battery was at 12.62V. So I am confident that a I have a good battery and a working alternator.

I think there may be something to a possible faulty clutch switch.