2001 Catera Won't Start

[wera22]

Well, I bought a 2001 Catera yesterday afternoon. It has about 75K miles and seems to be in great shape. My wife used it to run a few errands yesterday and when she went to start it this morning... nothing. The dealer is looking at it, but it is a small used car lot and I doubt they will be very helpful.

Here is what it does...
When you turn the key on everything comes up like normal. All of the gauges turn on, interior lights turn on, etc. When I turn the key to start I can hear the starter solenoid click and some sort of relay in the panel click. That would lead me to believe that the starter is bad, but what are the odds of that the first day. The check engine light and the gas cap light stay on the whole time.

The dealer tried to jump it and nothing happened. Then he tried to charge the battery for a few hours. Nothing there either... to my shock and surprise.


Any ideas anyone has would be appreciated!


STEVE

[guardian]

You need to read, read, read through the posts of this forum. You need to learn about the Cadillac Catera, the nature of the car, the fact it is not an American car in any way.

You should have done these things before you got within 100 feet of a Catera with purchase in mind. If you went in eyes open tell us. But otherwise know Catera is prone to the kind of problem you reported and so many more. It can be a good car if you know cars and the Cat in particular, and if you want to do your own work and stay on top of things. It can be a good car even absent your ability to repair it yourself, provided your budget for repairs is very generous.

But if you just want a "reliable driver" that requires little attention and just mostly works, you bought the wrong car. In fact, your were wrong . . . . on steroids.

Please read what is here and learn about the Catera. Then you will understand.

Good luck!

[ewill3rd]

It sounds to me, based on your description that the starter is bad.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Give it a knock with a hammer and see if it now runs.

Note....starter motor faults are VERY un-common on these (good job because its an engine mount off job to change!)

I dont agree with Guardians statement.....the biggest problem with the Cat in the US from what I cna see is the bloody minded dealers....its just to comlex for them!

[guardian]

Originally Posted by Marks DTM Calib

. . . . . .
I dont agree with Guardians statement.....the biggest problem with the Cat in the US from what I cna see is the bloody minded dealers....its just to comlex for them!

You are both right and wrong simultaneously.

You are correct in the sense that available stateside Catera service can be a technical competence disaster. And where else can an owner here, including new owners like the OP, turn for help.

On background and just for you:

When the Cat was ramping up here toward its fall 1996 introduction word went out from headquarters to Caddy dealers all across the fruited plain:

"Sign up and get on board to sell our splendid new Catera!"

" . . . . . and BTW the sign-up fee is US$50,000.00"

I am not making this up.

You will not be shocked to learn many of the dealers demurred. They decided to "wait and see" and to save 50 grand in the process. And of course as the situation with Catera unfolded circa 1997 and 1998, few of the dealers on the sidelines regretted their decision.

But there was a problem for purchasers. The non-participating dealers, each still a bona-fide Caddy dealer, were not permitted to send their techs to Cat school. They had not bought in and were excluded. They were not selling the car so had little incentive to Cat-certify their techs at their own expense. Bottom line all to many Caddy dealers never had a single tech trained to service the Cat.

And Cateras do require specialized knowledge to service well. A skilled and competent "Detroit iron" tech can regardless still easily mess up a Catera . . . without specialized training, I mean.

So IMHO it's not so much the complexity of Catera that causes the problems, its the scarcity of properly trained techs.

We see this all too often in the USA. The working people out on the line, the men and women who slug it out each day and get their hands dirty, are blamed when in reality it's upper management that cannot plan and cannot properly take care of the customer. Then they run and hide and play CYA games in their ivory towers. Our techs are smart and do good work . . . . . but in the case of Catera they deserved far better training than many ever received.

[wera22]

It was moisture in the starter. The car sat on the lot for a few months and only ran a few times. It was enough to condense out some moisture but not evaporate it. The moisture froze in the cold weather. The starter was thawed out and greased. The car runs like new. I am very happy with it.

Guardian... you need to calm down. Your first post was insulting. You don't know me or any research I did. I asked a question because I couldn't find an answer with "search" and I thought someone might say, "hey... check fuse 17b". Besides, you are all worked up over a $6,000 car. Who cares. If it cost me $5,000 a year to maintain it, I am still driving it for less than a similar condition BMW. Or it could blow into a million pieces in the middle of the night and I would be out $6,000... not really going to change my life any.

So far, I love the car. Everything works perfectly and my wife really loves it. We had a great little road trip on Friday night and had a nice dinner out without our 3 year old. It was a nice break! haha

Thanks for those who offered help with the starter!

STEVE

[guardian]

Originally Posted by wera22

. . . . . . Guardian... you need to calm down. Your first post was insulting. You don't know me or any research I did. I asked a question because I couldn't find an answer with "search" and I thought someone might say, "hey... check fuse 17b". Besides, you are all worked up over a $6,000 car. Who cares. If it cost me $5,000 a year to maintain it, I am still driving it for less than a similar condition BMW. Or it could blow into a million pieces in the middle of the night and I would be out $6,000... not really going to change my life. STEVE

Steve you are right and I apologize to you. Also I am delighted things worked out so well for you.

And I think perhaps I did over react. We do on occasion get newcomers here, folks who are new to Catera, who think of it as an American car . . . because it is badged Cadillac. I have corresponded personally with a woman, a new owner, who was just overwhelmed when the problems came one after another, unexpectedly. She lacked the financial resources to deal with them.

But that's not you. And now I see you can easily handle whatever trouble might come your way - which I hope will be very little. I wish you best of luck with your new ride, and I apologize again for insulting you, regardless that was surely not my intent. Please forgive.

[Marks DTM Calib]

I dont agree with the training so much.....if you know the basics of engine management etc....you can asses the faults from first principles....

We have the same problem here.....most techs dont understand the basics and hence willy nilly part replacement happens and poor diag....

I have never been on any form of training course.....yet can diag most faults vbecause I have taught myself the basics....

[wera22]

Apology accepted Guardian. I'm sure I'll be around asking more questions. I used to do more work on my cars than I do now, but sometimes I'll fix something myself still. It is just hard to find time anymore.

Drive Safe!


STEVE