I am in the process of taking my starter out. 06 Gr. caravan 3.3. The top double bolt is being a real pain in my a$$. I would assume after removing ground wire nut, the remaining part of the bolt would turn the opposite way. Please if anyone could verify this it would save me some aggrevation. As of now I soaked the thing full of pb blaster and it is soaking I have attempted to turn clockwise and counter clockwise with no budge. TIA.

 

I got the starter off, tested it. Its fine. I am really in a tight spot now. Heres how it went down. Drove van to and from work with no problems came home parked it. Next morning wouldn't start no crack just clicking, so I drove the Saturn. Came home from work tested battery, and only 10.4 volts. Okay jumped started van it started right up so I figured it must be a dead battery. I go to walmart get the battery put it in ...nothing but clicking? Okay so i test new battery it good as it should be its new. So this morning I mess around checking battery cables, checking the pain in the #$* starter, fuses relays, all good. It is super strange the only thing I can think of is some kind of anti theft issue. Stupid me locked the locks with the key pad ( before batt. change and then returned with new batt and used key, before the change?)

I am super stressed. The strange thing is when you turn the key to the on position all the gauges go way up then down, the light light up then go back off, and when you try to start all you get is clicking and the dome lights start flicking like made. Any one????

 

Well, so the van starts with a JUMP but not a new battery? have you tried to jump it with the new battery? This sound like you got a bad battery cable.


If it is an anti-theft issue, there will be a red dot blinking on your cluster.

 

A few points:

If it starts when you jump it, that may indicate a ground problem. Did you put the negative clamp on the battery or on the Engine? If on the engine, you bypassed the battery negative lead and the engine ground strap.

The dome light flickering is also a sign that the voltage is dropping. Either the battery is bad or the battery cables are bad.

If you have voltmeter, measure the voltage right at the starter during cranking. It should be no less than 9V or so. If it over 9V and no crank, the starter is the problem

If that isn't right check the battery voltage during cranking. Same thing, should be 9V or more. If it is less, the battery is bad or discharged.

If the battery is good and the starter voltage low, you likely have problems in the cables. Again with a voltmeter you can test from batt (+) to Starter (+) while cranking. Anything more than 1V drop says that path is bad. Same test for the negative side. Measure from the (-) post of the battery to the starter housing. The voltage drop during cranking should be minimal. 1.0V absolute max.

Dave

 

Update* Ok so far today I tried to start in neutral and other gears, no start. It will jump start. It takes a few trys but it will jump off. Battery to starter voltage drop is barely notable. Less than 1. Now when try to start it a new symptom is the dash lights are some times come on sometimes do not. If I turn the head light on it does not show they are on, on dash. Once when trying to start the fuel gauge was up and wouldn't go off until I took out the key. It is like the cluster is going crazy or PCM? If Pcm was bad would it jump off? Also when jumping it will jump straight from terminals. Is there any no start issues I should be aware of, Electrical, pcm etc?

 

I think all the weird gauge cluster stuff is a distraction. Lets keep it simple. When it will not crank, is there at least 9 to 10V at the starter motor? All the other behavior could be an effect of low voltage and not a cause.

Dave

 

Yes voltage at starter is good, voltage from ignition to starter good, pos and neg to starter have slight voltage drop not greater than 1v drop. Does anyone have a diagram of ground location?