for the last year my 92 GXE has done this crap where it wont do anything when you turn the key, and you have to rock the car back and forth until something clicks and it will start

last night all was good, just now the same crap happened where it wouldnt do anything so i let down the ebrake and i rocked it, no click its at least in my garage but what could be up? ive always thought the whole problem was my shifter bushing and i was going to swap it when the weather warms up. so basically right now i cant start it at all, all electrical works and everything. battery is less than 3 months old and alternator is less than 5 months old

 

well i talked to a couple of people and it sounds like its my starter, unless the car gets started the brakes lock up after you push the pedal once as well, dont know if thats normal so theyre locked up now. looks like its getting towed tomorrow

forgot to mention with the shifter bushing i had a mechanic take a look while other work was being done and he said its all fine

 

How are your motor mounts? Mine are crap, and I remember every time I would park on a hill (very slight... FL hills) and not pull the e-brake I couldn't get the car to start. Sometimes in the Park to Reverse or Park to Drive shift it would literally slam so hard it would stall the car out. Other than mounts, and the Shifter linkage bushing (which the mechanic probably didn't even inspect). I'm not sure why it would be the starter unless you had a loose ground or something.

 

got my mounts checked along with the shifter bushing and theyre fine, both tranny and engine.

the place i'm getting it towed to said it sounds like the starter too. one thing though is the cars in my garage, and with the brakes locked i cant shift into neutral. is the car still towable from the rear?

the first time it did this rocking crap i called AMA and the guy rocked it and said eh, just a loose wire and that was it. stopped for a bit, and within the last 4 or so months its been literally 40%-60% of the time it needs to be rocked

 

Do you hear loud click from the starter relay engaging when you turn key to START? If you do then it is starter if not - something else is not letting power to reach that relay. You can disconnect single control wire from that relay and feed battery voltage directly to that wire - it should engage relay and starter should start cranking. If it works then you problem somewhere in inhibitor relay area.

 

no click that i can remember, all its ever been is it wont do anything, then i rock it and something clicks from the front i believe and thats it. no click when i turn the key to start. a buddy of mine said something could be bent too in the shift system (forgot what he said) and he said its a $100 cheap fix

honestly hope to god its just the starter and this rocking stuff stops, its embarrassing at drive in carwashes and gas stations to have to run out and rock the car to get it going. ive been worried that it would do this (not start at all) in the carwash and i'm happy it at least happened in the best place possible, my garage

 

Also... sometimes the armature will stop on a "bad spot" of the commutator (electrical piece that touches the brushes) and cause the circuit to stay open- not allowing it to start. I've heard of people banging on them to get it to start, but never rocking. But I guess in effect you're doing the same thing by moving the car; rocking the starter. Report back after new starter.

 

He doesn't hear the click from the starter's relay - this would mean it doesn't get the power so starter wouldn't turn either. If a worn brush hanged over armature then he would hear the click. I'd say 99% it's not the starter but something else. Inhibitor relay contacts were known to do that and simple cleaning would fix it.

 

its getting done Wednesday so i'll have it all back by late Wednesday/early Thursday. hopefully its something simple. towing headache starts tomorrow morning

if it matters, i have to rock it forwards fairly far forward to hear the click. sometimes though if it wont start, i just have to let the Ebrake down and the car will gently roll back a bit and i hear the click or i let the Ebrake down and it still doesnt start, and i just rock inside the car a bit and i hear the click and it starts

 

so AMA came, jacked it up and put sliders under the front wheels while i sat in the car with the brake down. car gets towed onto the street, and FML i forgot about the shift override so i could have got into neutral.

anyways, after that i tried starting it and it started, he dropped the car and said he wouldnt call it a tow, just a misc. call and i drove it to the garage. they said its probably the starter because on old school cars you had to smack the starter with a hammer and me having to rock it essentially is the same thing. hopefully it is the starter so i can get gas and go through car washes without having to buttrape my Max

 

well they took a look and she started this morning, but they found bad spots on the starter where there was the clicking i heard so looks like i need a new starter and its good to go

 

mine used to do that all i had to do was push the gear shifter up towards the ashtray and it will start right up every time.

 

that sounds like a bad shifter bushing, i thought thats what caused this and was ready to replace the bushing

 

got it back, for sure it was the starter. they gave me a new starter with lifetime warranty because they couldnt find a reman.