Crank Problem?
 

Hey guys hopefully someone can give me a direction on this!

my 97 sl2 runs like a champ 99% of the time. I have been having this issue for a while that is really getting hard to tolerate and I'm afraid if I dont get to the bottom of it, it is really going to leave me stranded soon.

The Problem:

Every 15-30 (very random) start ups my car will not crank!
I hear the fuel pump
Starter is turning like a bat out of hell
just "no catch"
Its not even attempting to skip or stutter. Nothing

If I wait a bit (different amounts of time) it (not to be funny) just decides ok its time to crank and starts right up.

Typically under normal conditions it cranks quick without any hesitation like its a brand new 2013 honest to god!

As far as I can tell it has no correlation to weather or temperature of the engine. It happens so randomly.

Once it cranks it runs perfect! I'm having a really hard time pin pointing it and any help will be greatly appreciated!

sounds like starter solenoid is on its way out, which prevents the starter gear from engaging with the flywheel. These are integral to the starter on S cars.

ok I'll look into that. I thought though that if the solenoid is going out then the starter will not turn at all. I thought it would just click making a similar sound as if a battery was dead. Mine sounds like its turning at full speed but I don't know a lot about the electrical components. Thanks for the help!

Okay Idk if this is related or not but today I got in went to crank it and it did a slow crank as if the battery was dead. But no click. I turned the key back and then cranked it again and it fired right up without hesitation. What in the world? Something is definitely wrong with it. I wish I had more knowledge in the electrical components of a car. Everything else i'm good but electrical im lost!

OK -- check the positive main battery cable by flexing it ... if it feels extremely stiff and "crunchy" when you flex it, it's possible that battery acid has gotten under the cable jacket, and is eating the cable up kinda like a termite will do to a 2x4 in your house. When that happens, the starter does not receive full power from the battery, and the cable needs to be replaced ....

It sounds to me like the Bendix spring has gotten weak. When the solenoid clicks in, it pulls a small gear into the flywheel (or torque converter) ring gear to crank the engine. A weak Bendix spring can cause the starter motor gear to not go far enough to engage the ring gear so the starter spins so fast it literally screams.

This can eventually damage the ring gear and that means pulling the transmission to repair it. Generally the cure is to replace the starter motor because on a Saturn, you don't want to do that job over and over fixing the starter one piece at a time. Be sure to get a good quality starter like a top of the line reman, don't cheap out with the "value line"

Sounds to me like a bad cable or ground somewhere. BUT, I'm not a mechanic and have never claimed to be one. But I do agree with Keith as far as replacing the starter goes. Don't get one from Autozone, go to NAPA or a reputable parts house. I used to work for Autozone as a parts manager. I saw more starters and alternators returned in those five years, than anything else. I don't buy Duralast nor Valucraft starters or alternators from them. As a matter of fact, I don't buy any electrical parts from them at all. I get those from NAPA.

Yeah

What Keith said. To a T.

well the "dead battery" sounding issue happened to me a few more times now. So I took it to a parts store for them to check the battery. My battery definitely was bad. So I was hoping in some strange case it was the cause of all of it. But of course not. Cranks fine at the parts store, get home to eat a sandwich, get back in the car to head back to work. Wont Crank. So I think my one crappy issue just became two...

I like my car but i'm really getting frustrated with stuff going wrong all the time. Especially when I cant pin point it!

Starter issues are often the hardest to understand over the internet because people use the different terms, differently. The term "crank" for instance. To a mechanic, that means the motor is not turning over. To many others, the term "crank" means that the engine didn't actually start.

In the early days of both automotive and aviation engines, the engine starting means that we have ignition, meaning the engine is running.

Here are the conditions:

Turn the key to the start position and nothing, no sounds at all.

Turn the key to the start position and you get a single click, then nothing.

Turn the key to the start position and you get a series of clicks that slow down in frequency and eventually nothing.

Turn the key to the start position and you get a high pitched whine.

Turn the key to the start position and you get the normal cranking sounds, maybe at a slower rate than normal or at the normal rate but the engine fails to run on its own (no ignition).

Turn the key to the start position and the engine momentarily has ignition (catches) but sputters and dies.

and last,

Turn the key to the start position and the engine starts right up, we have ignition.