No crank? it's a Ghost! (Chevy Cobalt)
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2019
- Hey Eric O...did you send me the POSSESSED Cobalt?!?
This Chevy doesn't crank over...but sometimes it does with the key OFF!!
We take the diagnosis from scratch and try to get rid of the ghost without resorting to the parts cannon :)
Place your bets now!
Enjoy!
Ivan - Авто та транспорт
Some ECMs will go in safe mode (theft mode) when they detect un-commanded engine crank that's why it needed a code reset to restore crank relay control.
Nice fix Ivan 👍
Still doesn't answer the question who the heck would want to steal a cobalt?? LMAO
@@bigdaddymak1439 ooopll.Mmml mm ml l mom. L mmlmmml ml. L l me l mm l lm .lmmml. Pmml mmmmmm lm l l l mml l lmm pml. L ml ll. L lmmlmm my m l lml k no
I knew what the problem was from the beginning. It’s a Cobalt.
Great video shows the absolute necessity for a wiring diagram
Ya stayed on track Ivan and found the bad ground. Those clicking relays are tell tale. The computer was finding its ground through the transmission relay probably into a trans. solenoid. You followed the clues very well Ivan. Nice job👍
Seen this a few times here in the uk with bad grounds which then back feed and cause the car to crank on its own.
Great video from start to finish 👍
Great use of diagrams and double checking each step.
I enjoyed this one. I always appreciate that you bring us along for the process and hear how you approach which direction to take.
Thanks for the comments Wyatt 🙂👍
Pine hollow i got the same problem but when i hook the grounds up the ecm ground makes me loss power to the fuse s and all my warning lights on the dash dont come on can you help me
Great diagnosis, all caused by a corroded ground.
Thanks for sharing and best regards from the UK.
Had a coworker do a wiring harness on a Chevy diesel ,he was in such a rush to impress the boss that he left the shared ECM/GPCM ground only hand tight. Truck got towed back in later that night as a no-crank , I attempted to communicate with it with the Tech2 and no comms I used my 3157 home made test light to load test the ECM fuses and all the relays started to chatter just like that. Since I know he had just done the harness I went right for the ground on the engine block and found it very lose. tighten it and all fixed and of course he came over and brushed it off like yea what ever it happens. Awesome video Ivan
Ivan is the professor of automotive troubleshooting! Extremely knowledgeable, logical and patient. PHAD is the best for diagnosing the hard problems on UA-cam. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us.
Thanks Carlos!
This video helped point me in the right direction with my niece's 2007 Cobalt. I also found that the park/neutral fuse kept blowing & found the loom for the range sensor had rubbed against a stud just enuff to short to ground. Id have def been scratching my head a lot longer
Dude thank so much for this video i bought this car not running this summer for my daughter for her xmas she just got her license and its 2 days away from xmas and i cant get it running i was up all night trying to fig out why it wont crank might i add i dont have access to the diagrams nor do i know how to read them so i was up late after working on it and i seen ur video at about 7 this morning and almost jumped out of my bed to go try it but thought i might just get some rest and tackle it later on w some rest and it worked but i am still cant remove the key not sure why that is yet but ty so much you are going to make my daughter so happy this year i have fell into some money problem this year which are getting alot better so i wasn't really able to give as much as i wanted my daughter is one of the most amazing people and i didn't want to let her down and thanks to you that wont happen i am almost in tears writing this ty again god bless you
Great video for DIY you are a great investigator thanks for your time making great videos Bill N LI NY
Dude thank you i inherented this "thing" and i couldnt figure the issuse out..your one of the only ones that did it and explained it well. Now if only i could find out someone to buy this thing ,i mean this wonderful specimen of a chevy car..then id be true happy and buy my 04-07 dodge diesel 4x4 with 6speed. Oh for those good old days. Thanks again you pull my butt out of a fryer.
Sincerly,
Kurt D Lord
Bee keeper Exstrodinaire
You scored the Touchdown, Jim Kicked the Ball through the up rights to win the game. Ivan stands and watches Jim get carried off on teammates shoulders, crowd goes crazy.
Ghost in the Machine. Very instructive... nicely done.
Thank you Ivan. Good job. I appreciate your videos. Have a blessed and safe week.
I love a good automotive exorcism great video Ivan
AllData has saved my ass more than once. Great troubleshooting, man.
Dude, your one of a kind.
Great job as always comrade. Good to see you.
That ground looks similar to a Chrysler style, nice job Ivan!
Ivan so many electrical problems turn out to be wire corrosion. Great place to start all electrical troubleshooting. Thanks Ivan good video ❤️
if u tink abt it, ALL electrical issues boil down to bad connections
As a rule of thumb any time you have clicking relays it's a ground problem have seen a lot of problems on newer ford's very good video on the process
Saw the same thing not too long ago on a '95 Jeep Cherokee. The ground on the side of the engine block near the ignition coil worked its way loose. This caused the idiot lights in the dash to flash rapidly, to the same tune as the relays going crazy in the PDC. No crank, no start. Cleaned the ground connection there, tightened it, and all was well again!
Good on ya Jim for calling in a pro
FYI, the actual ignition key release is under the steering column. There's a little plastic/rubber panel you can pop off on the underside of the plastic column shroud. You can then use your finger to push in the plunger of the solenoid that prevents the key from coming out. That way you don't have to drive around with the center console removed. The key being stuck in the ignition actually is unrelated to this car's issues. All Cobalts and HHRs have that ignition switch issue.
And how do you fix this issue? I have the same problem
Of coarse ya did after ya watched the video
This is a stupid feature where if it detects a dead battery it springs that little white piece OP is talking about. The stuck key is just a faulty design. Just keep a screwdriver handy In case battery dies
You are a great teacher. Great video.
Well done Ivan , That is a good little car. Great to see it running again.
Another PHAD fix where NPN (no parts needed) other than a couple of eyelets, Great video.
The key not returning to the LOCK position is a fairly common problem on the Cobalt. There's actually a release button inside the steering column where you can manually release the key. It's awkward to reach, but the access hole is on the bottom steering column cover.
(Sung to Ghostbusters theme)
If your car won't start,
when it's in park. Who you gonna call ?
PINE HOLLOW!!!
When your car won't pass. It needs a kick in the a$$. Who you gonna call?
PINE HOLLOW!!!
When you need it fixed right, Ivan's got a test light. That's when you call.
PINE HOLLOW!!!!
Hahaha
That's a good one 😂
That’s too funny
This is a known problem with this ground .. it’s in a really bad spot . And the computer had a pcm relay code in it because of the bad ground that’s why it wouldn’t start . You reset the computer and it started . Great 👍 video Ivan !!!
Excelente! I know a few GMs that lock the key in the ignition when there's low power to it. To me, that was a clue.
Great find. Love the process! Have an awesome weekend Ivan!! 😊😊🤗🤗
Thanks Cuba! You too!
Great working diagnostics!
Damn bad grounds. This was a good one thanks for showing this.
Great job Ivan!
Good job Ivan powers and grounds good v log Power to pine hollow cheers
Outstanding troubleshooting.
Another winning diagnosis!
Ivan! That was really weird diag!! Needed a kick in the a$$ lol. Nice diag. I learned something on that! Hahaha.
i have the cobalts twin the pontiac g5, known for ground problems. ground wires also under driver headlight and coolant tank. check all of them plus fuse for bcm/pcm for corrosion/oxidation
A do a full ECM reset whenever I've had a low voltage or bad ground issue. What can happen is that the volatile stored values for everything from the fuel trims to the current rolling code for the key will turn into something nonsensical because the power level dropped to the point where they couldn't be stored reliably (most ECMs have "undefined" behavior below something like 9 volts). The bad values then cause all sorts of problems. Usually you end up with a rough idle, wrong idle speed, bad shifts, and sometimes even keyless entry stops working. Sometimes it'll start and fix itself after a while, but its just easier to clear all the values. To be sure I disconnect the battery for 30 minutes so that the store values in the ECM, Transmission ECU, BCM, and other modules are lost and everything starts from scratch.
Ivan says: "....bad grounds to fix it...." Jim says: "I thought that was it..." Then why in the hell didn't JIM fix it? I've worked around folks who say those things - Jim should have thanked Ivan for fixing it!
Jim from Jim'll fix it is dead.
That was kind of a rude comment. Same as when customers tell you "I'll just have my buddy fix it"....after you've told them what's wrong!
@@brianmason1414
Just charge them diagnosis
Dcomputers.... you're absolutely correct! Charge them what they legitimately owe, and move on with your day!
I caught that too...but Jim also said.."I just didn't want to go huntin"...let Ivan do the dirty work. He seems too Old School for the new shit..and didn't want to admit it
Nice fix Ivan I actually have this car had a nocrank situation once it was the ground strap on starter was corroded away.
Nice walk through!
You do good work brother!
That was funny when Jim moved his relay tester and moved the start relay to another position you could hear Ivan get anxious but politely say, “what relay is that Jim?” Jim replies “they’re all the same not realizing that Ivan is troubleshooting and wants to keep track of things.”
great video Ivan thanks again
Excellent video. Thanks!
Amazing find.
GM (Holden) over here were notorious for ECM failure creating a No Start condition around that era. My fix for them was piggy backing a separate starter button to bypass it. Most of those cars are still goi g to this day(the ones that haven't been destroyed)
I was test driving an Avalanche after an engine performance repair and stopped in a parking lot because I realized I'd forgotten to clear codes and fuel trims. I hit the clear all codes from code scan command on my Snap On tool and then remembered I needed to save something from that data before clearing it. I hit the abort clear code command from the scan tool and the "truck" wouldn't start afterwards. No communication with BCM. Thankfully I was only a couple miles from the shop I worked for at the time and was able to get a co-worker to bring me a 1/4" ratchet and 10mm socket. I did a battery cable reset and all was good after. The clear codes situation on the Cobalt reminded me of that. Dang GM modules! Great case study Comrade!
lol, always carry something to unhook battery! sans that on sidepost just twist the whole cable/end hard and the "fangs" will eat the lead post and loosen up the bolt enough to turn by finger. top post same. then again not everyone has plier hands :)
@@throttlebottle5906 Yeah I thought about that, but if I were to carry everything I might need for surprises on customer cars, I might as well just drive my work truck. 😂
@@gearheadautomotivel.l.c.5476 fair point, but a pair of "pump pliers" and "multi-bit screwdriver" go a long way when stuck with such a simple issue ;)
@@throttlebottle5906 Touché.
Good thing you didn't title it "Ghost In The Machine" (UA-cam strike) lol. Nice vid.
30 seconds or 30 feet for the warranty. Sometimes resetting the PCM kicks out all the bad habits and lockouts. Definitely a bad ground! Nice Repair!
Thanks for that wonderful video learn another solution to fix that problem.. From Mexicali Mexico. Franco Perez
Que bueno
great diagnostic thanks
Awesome troubleshooting.
Great video, thx for sharing
Ivan no parts again A+ nice fix..
I’m having a near identical issue with my 07 G5 (cobalt clone). No crank, weird electrical symptoms like you had. I cleaned every ground on the thing, and cleared the codes. My G105 is in good shape, cleaned it up nice anyway. I like your style of approach though. If you have any advice I’d really appreciate it, I do all my own work on this thing and over the past 3 years made it a near new car again, and I’ll be damned if this electrical issue scraps it on me!
Follow the "clicky clicky." Well done Ivan. Thanks!
Next time try the holy water, lol. Awesome video keep up the great work.
only if it's highly flammable Holy Water ;)
I realize the age of this video however, after seeing the corrosion on the eyelet on the transmission & seeing the misfire, there is also a grounding pount on the right side(driver side rear of the engine fornthe coils. Its worth checking.
Ivan, what? No bonus footage? Great video!
Nice work 👍
Smashing diag :-D
The rattle of the relays did sound like a bad 12+ or gnd to the drive module, someone did say "Always check power and grounds on ecm/modules." it may have been you lol.
I did get a bit lost at the point where you decided to connect a bulb to 12+ and the relay coil-- drive, then you jumped to testing the 12+ on the relay coil+ instead lol.
I had to watch that again untill i knew where you were going lol, i get mixed up easy if i'm not actually doing the job myself.
Connecting a low resistance bulb from +12 to the crank relay coil -- sounds very dangerious, it could have overloaded the module and blown the output, that relay coil can't be asking for much more than 300mA and the drive transistor could have been blown out.
Expensive module death :-(
Just my opinion/worry.
Clicky relays, the first thing I look for is bad grounds. The old Ford Escorts are famous for bad grounds, looks like Chevy had the same problems.
should see the fuckery that happens when a neon or a eclipse get when their grounds are crap :p most of the time they tight lipped about what the hell is the issue as well, so grounds are one of the first things i check with them when they doing any number of weird electrical things...... never forget to feed your angry pixies, they don't like that
Nice work
What no bonus footage, like the video.
I can only imagine how many codes were stored before he cleared them because of ground issue.
I have never seen that before. 👍👍
I had it diagnosed in 30 seconds when you knew you had full voltage and chattering relays.
Wow you're good 👏👌
gm has a specal coverage for this condition 14632B special coverage adjustment. covers 2005 -2010 colbalt plus more. get this 15 years. they install a new shifter.
Good job
So am I to assume that clearing the ECM codes can be interpreted as kind of an 'equivalent' to re-booting a PC, Ivan? Looks like both actions can be seen as resets after making a fix. I will have to remember this the next time I have a PCM-related repair.
BTW, this was a very good instructional video and I particularly enjoyed watching you explain the 'thought process' to trace the fault through the schematic. You da man, Ivan!
Not all clicky relays are a bad ground. I had one go clicky on me that is used to turn on my light bar. It was the relay itself that was the issue. Not a ground. I would have swapped relays to see if noise followed relay to start with. If it didn't then I would have started with what was going with that relay.
Some of those damn ground gremlins.
Ground under the fuse box Eric.o had also this problem
Thanks for this video. I went straight to testing the ECM ground and got 12V. I thought it was going to be a simple ground cleanup. I'm certainly going to put in some work into this now.
Update: I went to check my always ground on my Run/Crank relay and got positive voltage. I thought I must be crazy, then I pulled up the fuse box schematic. Turns out the fuse box had fuses where there should be circuits. Relays were missing and some were backwards. Replaced the fuse box, and it started right up. Thank you very much for this video. Now I'm following wiring diagrams everywhere.
That was a dilly ivan well done
Very nice!
My 2006 is having all these and other problems. It started after replacing wheel bearings and moving wires to diagnose a bad wheel sensor. First symptom was the gear position switch not reporting. Followed by all kinds of crap from no gauges to every alarm imaginable buzzing relays. I bumped the wire loom in the area of that ring and it quit. Will check it in a few hours.
Sure as shit mine is busted too exactly the same way. Will get to repair.
great job .
I use fluid film in my car engine bays to scare away the green crusties.
Nice find! That eyelet terminal was a mess. Shame on such a low mile, relatively new car. Par for the course today. Chinese copper / slag wiring & terminals ...
Always amazes me how a missing ground will do all kinds of unpredictable, strange stuff! I learned that many years ago troubleshooting a turn signal issue on a motorcycle - just because of 1 bad ground, the opposite side light would blink when one side only was activated. Was also blinking the wrong filament in the bulb, lol! Running lights up front were also dim on one side. Fixed the ground, and everything worked normally. Lesson there is, electricity will find ANY path back to ground it can, usually unintended, or illogical paths. 😎
Love Jim's computer monitor! That thing is MASSIVE! 👍👍
Haha yup biggest Verus screen ever lol
As always, thanks
Just want to add to that, I had prob 5 different cobalts fail from grounds mostly g105(same reason) but they all showed different symptoms. None had a clicky clicky relay yet lol.
Any washer pump issues?
@@beastumfan none that I came across
Hoping you may give a reply. I'm a former mechanic, it's been a long time tho. Found 3 broke off wires at 105, fixed that and still no crank. On the ones you fixed, did you need to clear codes to get it to crank? If so I need to source a scanner. I can't believe this didn't fix it. How many things can go wrong at once?
when i hear it clicking i though bad ECM ground it remind me case by scannerdanner (How to test a computer ground circuit (Audi)) its same sound same problem , greeting from Saudi Arabia
Goof Grief! All that complexity just to spin the starter? I'll stick with my '94 K1500 thank you. Great job Ivan.
Mysterious, Is that like a relearn process when you cleared the codes ??! Interesting.
Curious as to what you charge to diagnose issues. I posted on your other video with the dead dash mini Cooper (mine doing the same exact thing) and I'm wondering what I'm going to be looking at to pay someone to figure it out
Key typically wont remove with a dead or disconnected batt. Push realease inside steerring column
I waited and waited but no bonus footage. Good fix,
Thank you thank you thank you !!!!!!
I’ve got two question for my situation with no crank no start. New battery. New starter. 1)what if I don’t have continuity to the starter like you test at 7:45. What should I do. And 2) what if I have a weak ground on the bottom right pin. Should I ground ECM to strut tower bolt? What size of bolt and nut for the hole on ecm? Is a thick gauge wire good enough to ground? Should have zero resistance right? Thank you for your time. If you can help me diagnose issue, I would not mind helping you out with a tip. $$
Thank you so much. We have an 05' cobalt and it is nothing but issues. I was able to fix it with this video though. Your video was the only one with the same problem I was having. I redid the ground.
Awesome, great to hear that the video was helpful, Robert!
No bonus footage....UNSUBSCRIBE.
Nice video Ivan.
Nice video
cool ours is doing this i will see if i can fix it thanks
superb.
I have same car, but it's a 5spd. Doing the same stuff but it will push start just fine. What's the tool Jim used to jump the relay?