2001 Impala Starting Issues

I have a 2001 Impala and recently (last week) the car has been giving me problems starting it. When i get up for work and try and start my car, it tries to turn over and cant. it looked to me like the battery was drained. the horn wasnt loud and showed all signs of a dead battery. nothing was left on. i jumped the car and it started up. it would be ok the whole day. then the next morning the same thing. this is also a new battery. so today i went to murrays and had them check the battery. the battery and alternator was fine. i thought maybe it was corrosion so i got stuff to clean it and cleaned and greased the terminals. when i got the battery hooked back up the car wouldnt start. i hooked the jumper cables up and the car still wouldnt start. the starter would click and the gauges would go up and come back down. the horn also had the really weak sound like the battery was dead. but when the cables were hooked up it was loud like normal but the car wouldnt start. so that lead me to believe that its something besides the battery/alternator thats causing the issue. finally after trying and trying the car started to turn over and eventually after cranking the car for like 5sec it started. would a bad starter drain the battery like that? what do you guys think is wrong? Thanks

I think your ground cable might be loose. Not to the battery, but where it bolts to the frame. I would check that, follow the negative cable from the battery to the mounting point(s). Also, you had the battery and alternator tested, but did you have a draw test done? Both could be good, but you could have parasitic draw on your battery while the car is sitting.

well if the ground cable is loose how come when the jumper cables were hooked up the car still wouldnt start? and how do you do a draw test?

Could the BCM be related to this problem?

well if the ground cable is loose how come when the jumper cables were hooked up the car still wouldnt start? and how do you do a draw test?

If your ground was bad, it wouldn't matter if you had jumper cables, or a jump pack, or charger etc. All your computers and everything else is grounded to your chassis. If your battery to chassis ground is bad, then you do not have a closed circuit.

As far as the draw test, I believe you take a Digital Volt/Ohm Meter, set it to amps, and disconnect the negative battery cable from the battery. Of course the ignition is off when doing this. Put the red volt meter lead to the loose end of the negative cable and the black lead on the negative battery post. This should show how many amps are being drawn.

What I'm not sure of is how many amps, or miliamps are typically being drawn at rest for stuff like your clock, radio presets, etc. You'd have to find out what is "normal" and see if your reading is above that. I'm sure a normal reading would show something very low in the miliamp range. High would probably be 1 amp or more.

If your ground was bad, it wouldn't matter if you had jumper cables, or a jump pack, or charger etc. All your computers and everything else is grounded to your chassis. If your battery to chassis ground is bad, then you do not have a closed circuit.


so if i have a bad ground then this effects the starter? everything works fine electronically. the horn, lights, etc. the only thing not working is starting the car. it would click and the gauges would go up and come back down like the car "reset". and after it passed the clicking stage it would try to start but it seemed like it wasnt getting enough power to start even though the battery was hooked up to another car via jumper cables. but ill try the battery drain test tomorrow.

I solved the problem. To make the story short, the battery was sh*t and wasn't pulling a charge from the alternator. so when i would jump the car to start it, it would start but when you turned it off and tried starting it again it wouldn't start. the battery was only 1yr 3months old so i went back to the dealer and had them replace it.

so if i have a bad ground then this effects the starter?

Yes, especially since the starter draws more current than anything else in your car.

Anyhow, glad to hear it's all good now!