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2000 Grand Am GT 3.4 Liter Won't Start
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stlgolfer
New User
Nov 4, 2010, 7:23 PM
Post #1 of 2
(5237 views)
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2000 Grand Am GT 3.4 Liter Won't Start
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I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM GT with the 3.4 Liter V6. I have approximately 166,000 miles on it and about 3 weeks ago, I had driven the car home on a Friday and didn't attempt to start the car again until Monday morning to go to work. It did not start. The starter engaged and would turn the engine over, but the engine would not start. After about 20 minutes of attempting to start it (5-10 seconds of starting attempts with 2-3 minutes waiting to keep the started from overheating), the lights started to go dim and the trunk opened. I knew that I had probably drained the battery and on a whim, also thought that it might also be why the car wasn't starting. I took the battery to the local parts shop and had it tested and of course it was dead. Replaced the battery and even though the starter had a little more gusto when trying to start the engine, the engine still would not start.
After replacing the battery, I proceeded to do the following all with no luck at getting the engine started: checked that the fuel pump was initiating, replaced the spark plugs (noticed some gap) with AC Delco Pros, checked resistance on the cables (good), replaced the fuel filter, had starter module checked (good), tested continuity between starter coil towers (good), checked for voltage coming from ignition switch to ignition module (good), checked for proper voltage to Crankshaft Position Sensor (good), checked for voltage to plugs (good), checked for clogged fuel injectors (good).
At this point, I had exhausted my capabilities (that I was willing to do without tearing the engine and my hair out) and called a tow truck to have it towed to a local shop.
The car was dropped off on a Thursday night and I didn't hear from the mechanic all Friday morning. Around 2 in the afternoon on Friday, I called the shop for an update and the mechanic had said that he was still running diags. He said that he went in first thing Friday morning to check on my car and went into the bay and tried to start it. It started right for him and he said that the car was running great all day. He wanted to keep the car over the weekend to see if he could recreate the problem, but as a working I needed my car and told him that he could finish the diags and if he found anything else, to give me a call or else I would pick it up after work. When I picked up the car, he had said that he completed full diags and only found 2 systems that reported errors (ABS had 4 minor errors that had not reported in quite some time and the BCM had a bus communication error which apparently is common and not a big deal).
I took the car home and it ran great up until yesterday morning when again, I tried to start it before going to work. Same problem as before. Starter turns the engine over, but the engine will not start. I know there are some post out there about the security system but I've tried those techniques to no avail. I don't think it's a fuel problem because I smell gas faintly coming out of the tail pipe when I try and start it.
What else could it be? Any thoughts on what I could do would be MOST APPRECIATED! I love this car and have put a lot of TLC into it and would love to keep it going.
Thanks,
Desperate 
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Nov 4, 2010, 8:10 PM
Post #2 of 2
(5222 views)
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Re: 2000 Grand Am GT 3.4 Liter Won't Start
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2 Things to try when it's not starting.
1st get a can of starting fluid or carb clean and spray some down the throttle body and see if this will let the engine run for a second or 2 (until the fluid runs out)
2nd get a fuel pressure gauge and take a reading...
You ran a lot of tests which is good. When post the results it best to post what your actual reading were instead of "good". It's very possible you are misinterpreting a reading and we might be able to help right off the info in 1st post.
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