Well, my '08 HHR 1LT won't start ... often enough. Spent 3 hrs just clicking away in the parking lot at the apts, finally gave up, called a tow (this was at 2am today) and he showed up ... no sooner did he arrive than it fired RIGHT up. Well, drive it out to the dealer (figure, save myself the cost after first 3 mi. with AAA), and, well, clickity-click again.

Any ideas? Checked all the connections, good solid contacts, no codes, key works 100%, even clicked when I used the remote-start? Sounds to me like a bad starter... (just the solenoid clicking)

Thank goodness the car only had 35,997.8mi on it when I got there. It fired up again after a half hour of trying, the service tech asked me "you want to drive it home now?" to whit I replied "What, and have to bring it back once it's past 36k and outta warranty?

 

starter solenoid and relay are the two cheapest fixes first. probably one of them. but if i was always right i would be Mr. Goodwrench!

 

Check connections at the battery and starter. Check voltage at the starter to see if it drops a lot when you try to start it. Have you tried jumping the battery? You could have a bad starter, battery, starter relay or cables.

 

tried jumper box to no avail. battery's brand new (~ 5 days) so I pray that's not it, I'll never go to AutoZone again! lol. relay's good ... I assume, if I hear the solenoid clicking.

We'll see what the dealer tech says tomorrow or Tuesday, but either way, this weeks gonna suck having to walk everywhere (10-15mi/day). And GM's gonna get an earful from me once they open Monday about this (walk 43.1mi yesterday, gonna have to walk another 10-15/day all week, then find a way back to my car 43mi from town, again).

 

The dealer will have to replace the starter. This same thing happened to my 08 LT2 2.4 . This is exactly what is wrong with it, and nothing else will solve your problem. Also look for one or more coil packs to fry without warning. All this happened to mine under warranty. It's 40k on it now so I'm expecting the next 20 years to be trouble free. ( yeah, right)

 

The dealer will have to replace the starter. This same thing happened to my 08 LT2 2.4 . This is exactly what is wrong with it, and nothing else will solve your problem. Also loo for one or more coil packs to fry without warning. All this happened to mine under warranty. It's 40k on it now so I'm expecting the next 20 years to be trouble free. ( yeah, right)