Engine Won't Start?

After fueling up my car will not start. I must turn it over 5-8 times before it starts. Then when it starts it will die unless you have your foot on the gas. It runs great the rest of the time & start on the first try (unless I just got gas).

Check the fuel pressure to rule out the fuel filter/fuel pump/pressure regulator and listen to the injector/s are they pulsing or hook up a noid light.

2006 cobolt replace alt and batt about a month ago, car won,t start the other day ,ck with meter wasn,t charging again, change alt again , was charging 13.8 ,lasted 2 days and now its charging 18.1 . to bad alts in row

Yup. It's common to go through four to six replacement generators on GM products built after they redesigned them for the '87 model year. Two failures so close together though suggests a problem that should be addressed by the part's warranty. You already did the number one thing that reduces the number of repeat failures. That is replacing the perfectly good battery unless it is less than about two years old. These generators produce huge voltage spikes and the battery is key in controlling them. As it ages, the battery loses its ability to dampen and absorb those spikes even though it cranks the engine just fine. Those spikes destroy the internal diodes and the internal voltage regulator. That's what happened here. The only way to get 18 volts is from a shorted voltage regulator. BUT, . . . since the battery is new, I suspect the voltage regulator may have just failed on its own. There can also be a bad batch of them that were supplied to the rebuilder so to be safe, you might request a replacement generator of a different brand if the parts store has them.

My buddy cut the engine harness wires by rocker panel. All of them. Now my car which is the SS model is stuck in theft deterrent mode. Will not start. I have one key no remote. help!

try resetting it normally a remote is not required for this. worst case a mechanic will need a scanner to reset it which most garages can do. See our link.
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-reset-a-security-system

2006 Chevy Cobalt Automatic 80,000 miles

It has been raining alot lately, and my car was parked on the street and was flooded about half way for about 10 minutes. it wouldnt start so my nieghbors told me to get in and put it in neutral and they pushed it up to my garage to "dry". A day later i got in and it started fine, but now it is jerking pretty bad and the "tc" light is on. Does anyone know what could be the problem?

Water has got into an electrical connector and is causing an open or short circuit.

You will probably have to remove all connectors that were under water, disconnect and spray with an electronics cleaner, then blow dry with compressed air.

Engine Mechanical problem
2006 Chevy Cobalt 4 cyl Automatic 69000 miles

while driving the engine will stops. at this point i have to stop and restart the engine

Hi there,

Run a scan and check for any unresolved fault codes first, also it would be good to be able to check the fuel pressure when it fails, although this may be hard to do.

mark (mhpautos)

I replaced my radiator and car won't crank over fully. we tried jumping it, and you can hear the battery has power but it's acting like it doesn't get fuel. if you put it in neutral it won't start at all and it says on the dash there's an issue with the power steering, but i know there isn't.any suggestions?

Hi Richard.

Did this just happen since you replaced the radiator? Have you checked to see if there is spark and fuel to the engine? One must be missing for it not to start. I assume the starter is engaging and turning the engine because you mentioned you can tell the battery has power.

Do me a favor, my first suspect is that you disconnected something by accident related to the ignition system. For example, the crankshaft position sensor was disconnected. Lets first start by checking for ignition spark to the plugs.

Here is a link that shows how to do it:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-an-ignition-system

If there is spark, the next thing to do is check to see if there is fuel to the engine. Here is a link for testing:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-fuel-system-pressure-and-regulator

An easy way to check if fuel is the issue is to see if it starts for a couple seconds using starting fluid. If it starts and stalls, then we know if is a fuel related issue. However, I did include the link for testing fuel pressure.

Here is a link that explains the most common causes for a crank no start condition. Take a look through it to see if it helps.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-cranks-but-wont-start

Do these checks and let me know what you find, or let me know if you have other questions.

Take care,
Joe

Changed the alternator and everything was fine. Next day went to start it it did start but shut off and now won’t start.

Hello,

Does the engine crank when you turn the ignition key to start?

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

Yes it does. just wont start.

It is like there’s no spark.

Hello again,

Okay, I hate to be the bearer of foreboding doom, but I have personal experience with this engine through a Cobalt my Father owned. He came back from the grocery store and parked in the drive way, went out to start it the next morning and it was a no start. What had happened was somehow, and these engine are notorious for doing this, it jumped time? I, for the life of me, don't know how, but it ran absolutely perfect one minute, and with absolutely no warning what so ever, had jump time, and being a zero tolerance engine, had bend valves in the cylinder head and basically destroyed itself. His car had 80,000 well maintained miles on it.
Having said that and probably scaring the crap out of you, very sorry for that, just thought I should share my personal experience with you, for whatever it's worth, let's see if can figure this problem out. I think you were on the right track, let's check for spark first. I have included a link for you to go to down below.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-an-ignition-system

Please go through this guide and get back to us with what you find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

Drove fine. next morning, no start. bought new battery. now when I turn the key I can hear the fuel pump. when I try to start it all I hear is a loud whizzing noise and nothing happens.

Hello,

It sounds like you lost the timing chain but to confirm the failure can you do a compression test? Please follow this guide.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

This guide can help as well.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-cranks-but-wont-start

Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.

Cheers, Ken

finally took it to the shop....according to them it was the spark plugs

Hmm, usually the spark plug will jot keep it from starting unless they are fouled or so worn out, were they original?

I tried resetting it, it still will not crank. but everything is still working on the car.

Hi,

Try this: Turn the key to the run position and allow it to sit for approximately 10 minutes. The security light should turn off. When that happens, see if it starts and let me know. Also, if you have a spare key, see if it makes a difference.

I will watch for your reply.

Joe

I had my clutch replaced in my car and the guy that did the work is not available anymore. After everything was hooked back up the car started right up and ran a minute and I took my foot off the clutch and the car shut off and will not start back and it would not even try to turn over. so I thought the battery was drained so I tried to jump it and then the car still would not start. it will occasionally try to start with the key out of the ignition but not constantly and it still will not start. I checked all the the relays and fuses and it stopped trying to start itself. However, it still will not start. I found a blown 10 amp fuse for the fuel injector.

It sounds like when the clutch was done there may have been a ground wire or strap left off the transmission. Can you look around there are usually down low. Also, check the connector on the transmission to make sure it is secure.

Please let us know what happens.

Cheers, Ken

Thanks Ken, I had a friend tell me the same thing yesterday so I will be jacking the car up and checking it as soon as I get time from work.

Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

Cheers, Ken