Hey guys, I have a 97 camaro here, the darn car doesn't wanna start... It doesn't crank, the radio works, the light works, nothing else happens however...i've checked the battery seems to be ok..any ideas? Thanks for the help in advance..

 

how did you check the battery? does the starter make a clicking sound at all?

 

If it dosent crank, its probably your starter or ignoition switch

 

if it doesnt want to crank then it could be the starter. Take out the starter. Dont worry, its not hard. Just undo those 2 bolts and the 2 wire bolts. Then take it to autozone to test it. Takes no more than 15 minutes to do.

 

Do this it's even easier, put a voltmeter on the battery before you crank the engine and read the voltage. Then crank (or try to crank) the engine and see what the voltage goes to. If its less than about 11 volts then you have a battery problem. this could be caused by a few things. A wiring problem, an alternator problem or a starter problem. Start by checking all the wiring for poor connections. Particularly the wires that NEVER get looked at. The chassis and engine ground. Then jump the car with another vehicle and see if it starts. If it does start, disconnect the jump vehicle and then test the battery voltage again while your car is running. The voltage should be over 13 volts at the battery with engine running. If it's not, take the battery to have it load tested.

 

as above, remember starting the car puts a LOT more load on the battery than just running the lights/etc. The only way to really be sure is to have it load tested. If you can jump start it do that, then take it to your nearest Sears Auto Center or the like, and have them do a charging/starting system check. It costs like $10 which they put towards the price of installing a new part (battery, etc) if you buy it there. FWIW most auto parts stores testing equipment is marginal at best.