- We have a 2004 Cadillac CTS that won't start. The battery cables are tight and everything checks out. Sometimes it will start and sometimes it won't. It acts like there is nothing there when turning the key. I have a video of it doing that on my YouTube of anyone wants me share?
Sounds like it may be time to replace the starter. Has it been replaced previously?
That's what I was thinking too. It's on the original starter and the car itself has about 200K miles.
Oh yeah...it likely is the culprit then. I would definitely 'start' there. 🙂
Yeah it doesn't even try to turn over. I think the starter is done. Usually if there is another problem, you'll get a "tick tick tick" sound because the starter is trying to fire but some other problem is keeping it from catching. When there is no noise, typically the starter itself is out.
But there's times where you let it sit and go try it randomly and it will start. It's very odd.
Yeah they will do that as they go out. The good news is you get all the dash lights and bongs, so your battery is good. It could be a loose starter solenoid or relay, but the best bet is to just replace the whole starter and be done. You definitely got your money's worth out of the original.
I know that we took it to a dealer and they couldn't get it to do it there. Then we got it back and it done it. They couldn't figure it out 🤡
Well....you probably know this already but a lot of big dealers don't employ the best and brightest. More like the cheapest and inexperienced sadly. But I would bet you could find a good independent mechanic to do the job, or do it yourself if you have the DIY drive. It's not too hard and the starters for those aren't expensive.
Couldn't they just test the starter to see if it's bad?
They sure can. Pretty simple to do with the right tools.
Update. I watched a video on YouTube and some guy said to take out the starter relay fuse and put a wire to start it. We tried that when it didn't start by turning the key and it started with the wire. So that means the starter relay fuse would be bad?
That could be the case. Basically you bypass the relay and wire directly and it works. I'd say it could be the fuse.
Switch the starter relay with another known good relay and try it. You could get lucky. But that old a starter is going to leave you stranded sooner than later. I would just replace it like everybody else said.
We're gonna look at it more and see what we can do. Thanks to everyone who helped 🙂