2004 Grand Prix wont start

I have a 2004 Grand Prix GT 3.8 V6 auto trans. First thing in the morning it starts fine. I can drive across town shut it off and try to restart it immediately and it wont start. All electronics on dash and radio will all come on but when I turn the ignition its like there is no connection at all. No clicking of the starter or anything. After it sits for 2 or 3 hrs I can go out and it will turn over but wont start right away. After I try to start it a couple of times I can stop for a couple of minutes and then it will start right up. I can drive it back home, park it and go through the exact same thing again. It is very consistant and will do the same thing every time. Have not tried anything yet except jumper cables just to make sure it wasnt battery problem. Any ideas will help.

 

Sounds like an alarm feature. Do these cars still come with the key that has a chip (resistor) on it? If so, it may not be making good contact with the cylinder.

 

I have thought about that and have tried 2 different keys with the same results.

 

I would lean towards a bad starter solenoid (mounted on the starter).

 

Wouldnt you normally at least hear it trying to engage??

 

If you can get down to your starter/solenoid for testing purposes -on your solenoid you may have a terminal marked "S". If, when you turn the key to start, and you HAVE 12 volts at that "S" terminal, then that means that current has gone thru your ignition switch and any relay, successfully, and the solenoid contacts are bad inside and open up when hot, or you have a loose external connection there on the solenoid.

If you do NOT have power at that "S" terminal when turned to 'start', then it something that is before that point. Like the ignition switch or some other relay.

Also, the starter is grounded to the block, which in turn is grounded to your battery negative terminal. Make sure starter bolts are tight to complete ground and the block-to-battery ground is good, and both battery cables are good where the lead terminal part connects to the wire, and contact is good/clean at the battery. It takes way more juice to get the starter to go than to have dash lights light up..

 

Had an intermittent problem just like that with my '89 Sentra, so I hooked up LEDs with series resistors to crucial points mentioned in earlier posts and displayed them on the dash.

Just by luck, when I was hooking up and "testing the tester" the problem showed up - the relay that disables starting when the clutch pedal is out was bad.