I have a 2003 CTS 3.2. I got off work today and went to start my car , all the dash lights came up like normal with key in on position, turn key to start and nothing at all, all dash lights went out and the gas gage went to empty. After about 15 minutes and 10 tries it finally started and got home. Any ideas of what it could be? Battery is new and I have had the CPS replaced .
It sounds like symptoms of a dead battery but you said it was new. Are all the cables to the battery tight? Next time it happens, beep the horn to see if you have power there. My next guess is the ECM, it cant hurt to release the "lock-down clamp" to the ECMs, lift the cables and re-seat them, just in case there is a connection problem there.
This issue is intermittent, I can go days even weeks with no starting issues, then have a day that every start takes 10-15 min. Of trying. Turn key to on position all dash lights light up ,gas gauge moves up... etc... turn key to start and absolutely nothing. No click, nothing... all dash lights go off and gas gauge returns to empty. Then after a number of tries , car starts up and all is fine. ?????????
Any progress on this? I think Sammy Z's question about the battery cables may be on track (assuming you haven't resolved this some other way already). I've had intermittent no-start issues with 2 of my cars on different occasions, and both times it was due to the battery cables. Even if the cables look good, there could be corrosion inside (under the insulation), or there could be bad connections at either end.
Thanks for all the help, turns out my 18 month old battery was shot, not holding a charge. Just had it replaced under warranty...... got my fingers crossed that's all it was. If I don't add anymore comments you'll no the new battery fixed the issue. Thanks again..
Well its three days later, worked great for those days volts was reading 14.7 v but today, no start battery reading 12.1 v. Only code I pulled was P0446H evap. That's usually gas cap. The killer is this time it won't even jump start. Scratching my head.
As it turns out, it was a bad ECM. Had it replaced at dealer. They reprogrammed to my vin. Now everything is fine. Just a note, they needed both set of keys to do the reprogramming, with just set# 1 that I use the anti theft came up and they needed the other set to finish the programming. Had to go home and get them. All is good now.....cross fingers...
Well here we go again.... same day I got car back from dealer with brand new ECM the no crank, no start issue returns. Car started fine at dealership and the four stops I made before I got home. After dinner ( 3 hrs later) went to go to grocery store and same thing happened. Put key in turn to on , all dash lights come on, gas gauge moves etc, all normal things. Then turn key to start position and nothing, no click, nothing, dash lights go out, gas gauge returns to empty. After a couple of tries it starts. Car runs and drives fine, no engine lights on in dash, just everything normal. There must be someone who has had this issue and was able to have it figured out and fixed. Anybody?????
i remember having this problem in my GM trailblazer, it was my ignition module, by the way pearl03, how much did the dealer charge you for that new ECM programmed out the door
Holy crap! And that didnt fix the problem... Id want my money back for them misdiagnosing the problem. I just rebuilt my 3.6l motor in my '05 and I cant get it to start consistently. It will start once every 20 minutes, run rough, and continue to run after you turn it off and remove the key. Im scratching my head too, and Im not paying a dealer.
Just to let people know what I finally came up with. I went and got a second opinion , they said the ignition switch was toast, with all the cranking of the switch it just gave out. That was Friday, and they gave me the car back for the weekend. ( have to jump the starter relay to start car) I'm too bring the car back on Monday morning. I was just tired of this so I went and purchased a push start button on Sunday and installed it myself. Now I put the key in the ignition and turn it to ON position, press the new push start button and vrooooom. Starts right up, everything good, and it was easy to do.
cool. I had to eventually replace my ECU. 1000.00 for the ECU and 4 friggin days at the dealer to reprogram it. At least Im back up and running now. Starts every time.
There is little to no commonality between the '03 CTS that the original poster had and your '08 CTSs. You will have more luck asking in the correct forum.
Curious what you came up with? I also have a 08 CTS and am having the same exact issue. Not sure where to start.
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